


The Spark on the Battlefield

by OfficerGiraffe



Category: Team Fortress 2
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Female Pyro, Medic is adorable, Mental Health Issues, Mild Language, Murder, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pyro X Someone... probably, Red! Pyro/Someone... Probably, Scout is an asshole, Torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-23
Updated: 2018-09-20
Packaged: 2018-11-17 22:33:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 16
Words: 54,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11278125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OfficerGiraffe/pseuds/OfficerGiraffe
Summary: The Red team has lost another Pryo to the hands of the Blu Spy, and so, Emily, the newly recruited red Pyro, has come to serve in his place. While she's determined to keep her gender identity a secret for as long as possible in fear that her teammates would look down on her for being a female, she's also here to bring the red team victory after victory. She wants to prove that she can do anything just as well as her teammates if not better. However, with the Blu Spy, his unknown boss, a certain teammate of her's, and her dark past constantly creeping up and bringing her down, she has a lot to take care of before she's ready to stand on her own.





	1. Fire Starter

**Author's Note:**

> First off, I'd like to say that I don't own Team Fortress 2 or any of it's characters. That credit goes to Valve. Emily is mine, while the idea of Pyro is not. 
> 
> Anyways, hey guys! So, this is my first fanfiction that I've ever written. I originally posted this on fanfiction.net, but I'm going to post it here and continue to update it on both sites. 
> 
> First chapters are not my forte so I apologize for it in advance and I hope you can just bare with me through this. 
> 
> I'm going to try to do accents. I've had some help with them so far and hopefully they're not terrible. I may go back one day and remove them depending what you guys think. 
> 
> That being said, writing is my passion and I am open to all criticism and tips to make my writing better. So if you have any suggestions, please send them my way! 
> 
> Well, I think that's enough from me. On to the story!

The room filled with loud beeps and buzzes. The monitors in the front of the room were replaying a scene from 2 nights before, 4 hours after the most recent mission of king of the hill on sawmill. It was the footage of after ceasefire had been called. All mercenaries were supposed to be in their designated rest houses while they waited for the next mission. However, in this clip some Mercenaries were not in the designated areas. It showed Red Pyro pinned down by Blu Spy in front of a saw as it came towards the fire lover. The end of the clip was bloody and resulted in one less red team member. Due to it being ceasefire, the spawn wouldn’t be bringing that pyro back either. He was gone.  
A bored and hushed sigh came from the administrator as she watched the replays.

“And he was such a good pyro too…” she muttered out loud. She then turned to me, taking a puff of her cigarette. “However, due to the records of your mercenary training, I can tell that you’ll be just as good as the previous pyro, if not better. “ She stated, grabbing a folder from her desk, flipping through it. I gulped when she looked back up at me. 

“Miss Pauling and I chose you because you’ve shown excellence in training and you were the best we could get in short notice. So, don’t make us regret picking you.” The woman hissed. I nodded. 

“I won’t let you down ma’am.” I assured. The administrator looked me over once more before giving a small smirk.

“Good. Now, Miss Pauling will escort you to the base where one of the Red Team will be waiting to show you around. The weapons that you’ll start with will be in your room. Prove to us that you’re worth the money, and you will receive other types of weapons to use. As for your request, you do realize that keeping your identity safe will not be easy, yes?” The woman took another puff of cigarette, waiting for my answer. 

“Yes. I realize that, but I’ll manage the look. Should I HAVE to take off my suit, I have other ways of concealment. I just ask that you secure the written proof from my teammates.” I stated, staring at her with complete confidence. She smirked slightly. 

“Fine. We will secure everything. We’ve also made adjustments to your room. We’ve added on a bathroom and told the others that it was required due to your health. That is all I can do for you. Miss Pauling will be giving you more details on your job on your way to the base.” Again, the Administrator took a puff of her cigarette before speaking. “Now, Do you have any questions for me?” 

“Actually, yes I do.” I said, moving my gaze to the monitors. “What happened to him?” I motioned towards the Blu spy. 

The Administrator could see the slight concern on my face. I mean, I was taking that pyro’s place. I had a right to be concerned after watching that footage over and over again. She took a long puff of her cigarette before answering. 

“He was fired and immediately replaced.” She finally stated. I could see in her eyes though that he was more than just fired. Something told me that no one was ever going to hear from that spy again. I nodded at the Administrator, understanding. 

“Anything else?” she asked. I shook my head. “Good. Then take your bag and leave. Miss Pauling is waiting outside.” 

“Yes ma’am. Oh and Thank you for this opportunity.” I declared. She nodded. “Like I said, don’t make me regret choosing you.” She added. I nodded towards her. “I don’t intend to.” And with that said I headed out. 

Just as the Administrator said, Miss Pauling was waiting right outside, holding the door to a car open for me. I nodded my thanks to her and slid in. She followed me in, telling the driver to go the second the door was shut. 

“First off, I want to say it’s good to have you. It’s nice to finally have a female on the field.” She stated. 

I smiled. “Good to be here.” 

Miss Pauling gave a simple smile and turned to some paper work that she held in her lap. At first I thought she was going to make me sign more papers and contracts that covered them should something go terribly wrong, but it turns out it was just the things she needed to go over with me and a few of my files. 

“Okay, Miss Emily. So you already know that you’re a pyro, meaning you work with fire. You’ll mainly be a hit and run attacker. The type of missions that you’ll participate in will be as follows: King of the Hill; capture and keep the point, Capture Points; self-explanatory, 2fort; essentially capture the flag, Payload; taking a cart to a location which will be picked out for you, and MVM; Fighting robots so they don’t blow up the base. Before each mission your team will briefly explain what your goal is. You’re on the Red team and will constantly be fighting the Blu team, save for MVM missions. Any questions?” Miss Pauling hurried through the explanation, as if she were short on time.

“No, I think I’ve got it.” I replied with confidence. 

Miss Pauling nodded. “Well if you think of anything, you can ask your teammates. They’ve all been here a while and know just about anything and everything that I do about the way the missions work.” 

“Thank you Miss Pauling.” I said smiling at her. 

She smiled back. “Of course, anyway, here we are.”

We pulled up to a fort like building that was painted red. A rather short man, wearing a hard hat stood in front of the door. Before I got out of the car, I pulled on my mask and zipped up my pyro’s suit. When my girlish body features were covered. I put my bag on my back, waved to Miss Pauling and got out. The second I was out of the car it drove off. With nothing left to do I breathed out, shaking my nerves off and headed over to the man in the hard hat. 

“Howdy Partner. You must be the new pyro. Nice to meet you. I’m the Engineer, but everyone calls me Engi. Welcome to your new home, I’ll be showing you around.” The man said, holding his hand out for a handshake. I took his hand, shaking it, and nodded to show I understood. I wish I could talk, but all they’d hear is a bunch of mumbles and I couldn’t risk these guys finding out I was a girl. I have no idea how they’ll react and I don’t really want to know. 

Engi walked me into the base, showing me where everything was. When we hit the living room, two other men noticed us. One them was listening to the radio, had a rifle on his back, behind a shield of some sort and wore a vest. The other wore an eyepatch and seemed to be completely wasted. I saw no weapons near him and probably for good reason. 

“Boys, this is our new pyro. Pyro, meet Sniper and Demo.” Engi introduced. I waved hello to them. 

“If I wasn’t the man I was, I’d kiss ya.” The demo said. I tilted my head slightly at that. 

“Don’t mind him, partner. He’s a bit wasted.” Engi explained. As if I couldn’t tell. Then the sniper looked at me. 

“Nice to meet ya mate.” He said, giving a slight nod my way. So this was sniper. I had heard that the snipers constantly have trouble with spies. He seems perfectly capable of handling a spy though so I wonder why he’d have so much trouble. After Engi reminded sniper it was his turn to clean the bathroom, he took me down a hall to show me the dining room and the kitchen. It was there that we were greeted by a very tall man with a shaven head and was slightly on the chunky side. Big guy though, could probably snap a neck without too much effort. 

“How’s it going, stretch?” Engi said, looking at the tall man. The man seemed to get really happy when he saw Engi. 

“ENGINEER! Is good to see you!” The man called out. Then he looked at me. “Is this new pyro? He’s so tiny!” Engi chuckled at his friend. 

“Pyro, that’s Heavy.” He explained. Heavy smiled. 

“I am heavy weapons guy!” Heavy repeated. I chuckled a bit. 

“Heavy this is our new Pyro.” Engi continued. 

“Pyro is little tiny man, but he looks like a strong tiny man! We will make good team!” Heavy beamed. I couldn’t help but smile at the big guy, even though they couldn’t see it. So far, Heavy was definitely my favorite of the group. He’s just a happy person, someone you would want to be around. 

Heavy took a big bite of his sandwich as Engi stated he had to keep moving and we’d see him later. After waving goodbye to Heavy, Engi took us down a different hall. 

“This here is the Infirmary.” Engi stated opening the large double doors. The heavy smell of anti-bacterial and latex filled my mask. You could definitely tell it was an infirmary. 

“Hey Doc!” Engi called to a tall man standing in front of a hospital bed. The doctor turned to Engi with a questioning look. 

“Vat iz it, Engi? Are you hurt?” The man asked. 

“Nah, just want you to meet our new teammate. Pyro, Medic. Medic, Pyro.” 

“Ah. Ze new von. Hallo zere, herr pyro.” Medic said. The heavy german accent was fun to listen too honestly. I liked it. I waved to Medic, trying to be polite, when I heard another voice. 

“Hey Doc, C’mon man! I wanna get movin!” The Medic seemed to roll his eyes and turn back to the hospital bed. 

“Is that you, string-bean?” I heard Engi ask.

“Ja. Herr Scout Iz here.” The Medic replied. 

“What in tarnation have you done now, string-bean?” Engi asked. 

“Frickin Soldier hit me with his shovel!” the voice called. Then the body that I hadn’t noticed on the bed before, sat up. A guy with bandaged hands and a hat looked over at us. His left cheek had a fresh square bandage on it, where I assume this Soldier guy hit him. 

“Scout, I don’t zink Soldier hit you vithout gut veason.”The medic stated. Scout glared at Medic.

“Ol’ Helmet Head needs a baseball bat to his face.” Scout muttered. Medic shook his head while rubbing his temples. Scout turned back to Engi and I. 

“Oh hey look, a new mumbler. How’s it going Pyro. I’m Scout, the greatest guy you’re ever gonna meet.” Scout then hopped off the bed. 

“Hey thanks Doc!” he called to Medic. I heard Medic mumble something, but I couldn’t understand him, however I don’t think it was anything nice. 

“I’d love to stay and chat but I actually have to go do things unlike you guys.” Scout yelled as he left the infirmary. Medic shook his head, turning to his desk. Engi told Medic we were going to go finish the tour of the base and we said our goodbyes. 

Our last stop was the hall with all the bedrooms. There, two other men were standing outside one of the bedrooms. One wore a helmet and had a rocket launcher on his back. Judging from Scout’s “helmet head” reference, I assumed that this was Soldier. As for the other guy, he was in a mask and a nice red Italian suit. He looked like the Blu spy from the monitors in the Administrator’s office. So I could only assume that this was Spy. 

“Howdy boys.” Engi said as we approached. 

“Bonjour, mon ami.” Spy answered, turning to us. 

“Engi.” Soldier nodded his head in Engi’s direction. They both watched me, but Soldier watched me as though I were a terrorist or something. 

“Boys, this is our new Pyro. Pyro, this is Soldier and Spy.” Engi introduced. 

“Recruit.” Soldier said simply with a nod. 

“Bonjour pyro. It’s nice to have you.” Spy seemed like a reasonable guy at least. Well, most of them seemed pretty reasonable really. Scout and Soldier are the only ones that seemed like they could be difficult. The air around was tense and I didn’t like the look Soldier was giving me. Apparently, Engi felt the tenion in the air too and didn’t like it because he hurriedly said goodbye to Soldier and Spy, pushing me away. 

“Sorry about that, Pardner. The air over there was just getting too tense for me. Anyway this is your room.” Engi opened the door to a bedroom and motioned for me to enter. When I did I found the room to be quite roomy. It wasn’t cramped like I thought it would be. Over leaning up against the far wall were my weapons; a flamethrower, shot gun, and a fire ax. 

“Well. I’ll lay the key on your dresser and let you get settled in. Dinner is normally served at 6. It’s good to have you here, Pyro.” Engi said before leaving, closing the door behind him. 

I sighed, taking my mask off. I forgot I’d have to eat. I laid down on my bed, which was strangely comfortable and tried to decide what I was going to do for dinner. I wanted to eat, but was it worth risking my gender being made known? 

I guess I’d have to head down there and see what happens. This might prove to be an interesting night.


	2. Hot and Bothered

After lying down for about 5 minutes, I turned to look at the small black digital clock on the nightstand. It was 5:37p.m. I had roughly 23 minutes before I had to go to the dining room for dinner. Sitting up, I realized I still had to unpack. 

Unpacking didn’t take as long as I thought it would, luckily. Only took me about 15 minutes to take everything out of the bag and put it away. The only thing I had left to do was decide what I was going to do about dinner. Do I wear my suit and try to sneak a meal later or try to make myself look as boyish as possible and eat until I can’t eat anymore. 

I pondered this question for a few minutes before deciding that it’d be best to wear my suit and mask tonight while I get a feel for what the others are like, without getting discovered. So, I pulled my mask on and zipped up my suit, making sure that I was concealed before leaving. 

I found myself lost in the long hallways of the fort. I didn’t ask for this and why did this hall smell like feet? I was ready to give up until I felt a hand on my shoulder. Turning, I found it to be Engi. 

“You’re looking a little lost, there Pardner.” He smirked. I just laughed nervously, shrugging a bit at him. He chuckled and motioned for me to follow him. 

“Happens to the best of us. We all got lost at least 3 times our first day.” He rambled, as we walked in what I assumed to be the direction of the dining room. Who designed this building and who thought it’d be a great idea to make this many hallways? Engi was saying something else, but I stopped listening, trying to take note of any marks on the walls or floors that I could use to remind me of where to go. I didn’t start listening to him again until I heard something that caught my attention. 

“You better be careful. Soldier seems to have taken a disliking to you. He doesn’t trust you, so watch what you say and do around him, or you might be in for a world of hurt.” Engi explained. So I wasn’t imagining the look Soldier was giving me earlier. Great, the guy who likes to hit people with shovels and has the rocket launcher doesn’t like me. I tilted my head at Engi, giving him a questioning look, hoping he might tell me more. He seemed to notice my motion as he decided to talk more.

“Soldier can be hard to get along with at first, that’s just the way he is. He n’ Scout still butt heads every now and then. Heavy n’ Sniper still don’t take much liking to him either.” Well Scout does seem like he can be a little obnoxious, but Heavy and Sniper? That doesn’t seem right. Heavy doesn’t look like he could dislike anyone and Sniper just seems so relaxed. I can’t see him disliking anyone either. This Soldier guy must be pretty insane. 

“But, he’ll get used to ya. Just watch yerself fer now.” Engi smiled. I nodded at him. 

“Hey, hard hat! Where ya been, man? We been waitin’ for ya!” Scout shouted, leaning out of a door way, looking in our direction. 

“Our new friend got a little lost. I had to help’em out.” Engi chuckled. Scout laughed out loud. 

“Way to go, Mumbles.” 

Engi and I followed Scout into the dining room. Everyone was there. Heavy was holding his stomach. The poor guy looked like he was going to starve if he didn’t get any food within the next few seconds. Scout ran over to bother Spy, who sat at the end of the table. He looked like he was using every bit of self control he had to not tape Scout’s mouth shut. Demo was asleep on the table, must’ve had one too many I guess. And Medic was with Sniper. The two were bringing the food out, setting everything on the table. It smelled delicious. Lastly, there was Soldier, who sat quietly at the head of the table. 

The meal consisted of steamed vegetables, smoked ham, mashed potatoes and collard greens. I’m pretty sure my mouth was watering, but I’d have to wait until later to eat. I couldn’t risk blowing my cove just yet. When Scout noticed I wasn’t eating and asked if I was going to eat, I shook my head. He gave me a confused look, but shrugged it off, leaving the matter alone. Good. After that I spent most of dinner listening to Engi, who was talking to me about the different things that he has built and how they work, and watching Heavy. The guy was a garbage disposal. I honestly think he would’ve eaten the plate if he could. This guy was currently on his 9th serving of food, just shoveling bite after bite down his throat. It was actually really entertaining to watch. 

However, if looks could kill, I’d be dead. Ever since I walked into the room Soldier had been giving me nasty looks. The guy was really starting to scare me here. I wish I knew how to get him to like me, because I’d be willing to do just about anything to get him to stop looking at me like this. He looked like he could get up and just murder me at any second, which with the face he had now I’m sure that’s exactly what he wanted to. 

“Mon dieu. Pyro, mon ami. I will pay you to set this idiot on fire.” Spy sighed, gesturing to Scout. I turned to Spy on my left. He was rubbing his temples, poor guy. 

“Ha! Yeah right, like mumbles here would do that to me.” Scout teased, leaning on the back of my chair. Spy’s request was tempting. If only I had my flamethrower. 

“Hey Spy,” Scout yelled out. “you wanna g- Hey, where’d he go?” Suddenly Spy was gone. This must be his cloaking move, interesting. There was a loud tapping on glass. I looked towards where the noise was coming from to find Medic, standing up ready to say something. The room grew quiet.

“Ah, gut. I have your attention. Now, I vould like to say a few zings. First, I’d like to velcome herr Pyro. Iz gut to have you. Next, I vant to vish everyvon gut luck in the mission tomorrow. Iz going to be a gut von I zink. Lastly, I zink we should make a toast to a new and improved team. Let us do our best!” Medic declared, raising his glass. The rest of us followed him, tapping glasses and taking a swig of our drinks. Well, save for me. I just returned my glass to the table.

Medic sat back down and everyone began chatting. Until Scout noticed Soldier who was now just sitting back in his chair, glaring at everyone. Was this guy ever happy? Scout approached Soldier and with every step Scout took I swore I could see Soldier grow more upset. 

“Hey, Helmet head, what’s your problem?” Scout questioned. To which Soldier quickly responded by standing up from his chair and gathering his dishes, starting to walk towards the kitchen. 

“Hey! I’m talking to you.” Soldier stopped walking and turned back to Scout. 

“You better back down, son, before I leave more than a scratch on your face.” Then, the room was quiet, all eyes on Soldier and Scout. 

“I’m not afraid of you; I just want to know what your problem is!” Scout actually looked upset. I watched as the two yelled at each other. Soldier basically repeating how it was none of Scout’s business and that he needed to back off. Scout just argued that as his teammate it was his business. 

Soldier had had enough. I watched as he grabbed his shovel from his back. I just realized that he had replaced the rocket launcher with the shovel. Soldier raised the shovel and walked towards Scout, grabbing his collar. Scout braced himself for the hit as the shovel was fast approaching his face. 

“Zat iz quite enough.” Medic grabbed Soldier’s arm before the shovel could hit Scout and pushed him away, separating the two. 

“No, let him do it, Doc. Then I’ll have a reason to pound him.” Scout argued. Medic glared at Scout. 

“I don’t zink so because if I have to spend anozer 20 minutes or more vith you in ze infirmary today, I vill loose vat little mind I have left!” Scout frowned and muttered something to Medic before walking away. Soldier just growled, returning his shovel to his back and taking his leave. 

Medic sighed and began cleaning his plate up, having had enough excitement for one night. Sniper shook his head, cleaning up his own area. Others soon followed.  
Demo stayed asleep while everyone cleaned up. It was Heavy’s night to do the dishes. Scout was supposed to help him, but oddly enough the guy was nowhere to be found. So, I began helping, drying them as he washed them. Seeing that we two had it covered, everyone headed out to their rooms or where ever they wanted to be at this point in time. Engi reminded me of where to go to get back to my room before leaving. 

“I hope team did not scare tiny fire man.” Heavy said. I turned to him. He was concentrated on the dishes and didn’t look to be showing much emotion, but I could see it in his eyes that the incident that just occurred upset the big guy. 

“Nuh-uh.” I said, shaking my head. Heavy smiled a little at that, but said nothing else. 

When the dishes were done Heavy put everything away, showing me where things went. Once everything was put away he said goodnight to me and headed out to his room. I turned off the lights, not really hungry anymore, and trailed back to the dining room where Demo was still passed out. I chuckled quietly, turning off the lights before heading to my room. 

Surprisingly, I only took one wrong turn on my way to my room. I corrected this after realizing I was not going where I needed too. My room was in sight when I was pulled by something off to the side. After steadying myself, I found that it was Soldier who pulled me off to the side. 

“Listen here, Maggot. I don’t like you. There’s something different about you, you’re not like us. I don’t trust you and I think you’re hiding something from us. And believe me when I say I’ll find out what it is, because I will. Do you understand me?” I nodded as quickly as I could before this guy ripped one of my arms off or something.

“Good. Now get out of my sight.” He ordered, pushing me out of his way. I stood there stunned and slightly scared. 

I stepped into my room, closing the door behind me. How could Soldier infer so much about me, the guy hasn’t even seen my face? How does he know I’m hiding something? How did I give him a reason to distrust me? What exactly have I done wrong? 

That’s what I thought about as I changed out of my suit and into my PJ’s. I just didn’t understand it. However, due to my exhausted state, I decided to not worry about it right now. I looked on the planner that was on my door. I had to be at breakfast at 6:30a.m. So I should set the alarm for 5. 

I set the alarm, turned off the lights and crawled into bed. It felt so good to be out of that mask and suit. I’ve never thought a bed could feel so comfortable.  
It had been a long and interesting day. I recalled the day’s events as I drifted into a light sleep.

*.-.-.-.-.-.-.*

The building was glowing with brilliant reds and oranges of a fire. Loud and agonizing screams erupted from the building as the fire grew in size and power. I stared at the fire, amazed by its beauty. The only thing I could see was the fire and the only thing I heard was the low humming sound the fire made as it consumed everything in its path. I was captivated by the bright colors.

I couldn’t imagine anything as pretty as fire, except for a rainbow. A fire, of course, was nothing more than a rainbow filled with different shades of red. The sparks that burst into the air as smoke rose from the fire, looked just like tiny sparkles in the sky. Absolutely stunning and to think that I had made this beautiful work of art, it was amazing. And all it took was a few lit matches, a small propane tank and an old flare gun. 

Lost in the colors of the fire, I had forgotten that with this great beauty came great pain. The people inside that building fought for their lives trying to get out of the fire. A boy of 10 years, a father of 32 years and a mother of 28 years who was expecting a child in 3 months. The 3 fought, wanting nothing more than to live and get out of the building. While their screams did nothing but make them inhale the thick smoke and ash. This would only quicken their death if they continued. 

Loud sirens burst through my consciousness as I came back down to earth, releasing my heavy gaze on the fire. I looked towards the house, just now completely realizing what I had done. The screams rang through my ears. The screams of my family. I stared now in horror more than awe as fire fighters ran into the building. They returned, carrying out my mother and older brother. My father held onto one of the firefighters as he ran out, a fire blanket draped over him.

My mother wasn’t breathing, my brother’s back was horribly burned, and my father managed to escape with minor scratches and burns on his face and arms. My brother was crying and my father was yelling in my direction. I closed my eyes, trying to listen only to the fire.

*.-.-.-.-.-.-.*

I jumped up, drenched in a cold sweat. It was only a dream. That’s all it ever was.


	3. Fired Up

4:30a.m. I’d been up for about 2 hours now. It’s been like this for a while now. Every now and then I’ll find myself having that same reoccurring dream. It’s always the same. 

I’d have to get ready in a half hour for the mission. Everyone else is probably sleeping, now would be a good time to get breakfast before they wake up. I crawled out of my cocoon of blankets, shivering at the cold air of the base. I made my way into the bathroom to find what can only be described as an eagle’s nest that was my hair. I grumbled a few colorful words when I attempted to brush the tangled brown mess. Once it was semi-tame, I braided it loosely, keeping it out of my face. I didn’t know what I’d be doing in today’s mission, but the last thing I needed was my hair moving in my face under my mask while I’m trying to fight. 

I finished getting ready, throwing my suit and mask on, just in case someone actually was awake now. I fixed my ax on my back along with my shot gun, making sure it was comfortable to walk with. After turning off my alarm, I made my way into the hall, grabbing my flamethrower on the way. 

For once I managed to find my way to the kitchen pretty quickly, only making 2 wrong turns. I was also really surprised at how light my flamethrower was. It couldn’t be any more than 40 bounds. Honestly, I was expecting heavier. 

I stepped into the kitchen, leaving my flamethrower in the hallway, ready to feast while everyone was sleeping. Only, much to my dismay, I wasn’t the only one who decided to get up early. There, standing at the counter right in front of me getting coffee was Soldier. I really should’ve eaten something last night… He didn’t seem to notice me at first, but the second I stepped towards the fridge he spoke up.

“You’re up early, maggot.” He stated, turning to me while sipping his coffee. He leaned up against the counter, waiting for me to acknowledge him. Like me, he too was already in his uniform. I nodded to him. 

“Well. At least you’re not a slacker and can actually wake up at a reasonable time.” Oh if only he knew I was struggling to stay awake. 

“Mhm” That was the most I could get out at the time. I don’t get intimidated often, but Soldier definitely intimidated me. I mean the guy hits his own teammates with shovels for crying out loud. Not to mention, I’ve never had someone get in my face like he did yesterday. 

When he didn’t say anything else, I quickly made my way towards the fruit bowl. I snatched an apple and a pear from the bowl. This ought to hold me for a while, I hope. I looked over to Soldier who seemed to be in deep thought. I wonder what goes on under that helmet. I left him to his thinking and went to the dining room. 

I guess Demo woke up sometime last night and went to his room because he was no longer passed out on the dining room table. I lifted my mask enough to uncover my mouth and started eating on my apple. 

I tossed the cores of the two fruits in the trash and returned the mask over my mouth as soldier walked in. He sat across from me at the table and stared at me. 

“Okay maggot. Since we have time, I’m going to give you the run-down of our mission today.” He started. This might be the first time I haven’t felt completely intimidated by Soldier. I made sure to listen though, this was important. 

“We’ll be playing a little game of Capture the flag today. Our goal, get in the enemy base, grab their intelligence, a briefcase with their information and data in it, and bring it back. We normally leave getting the intelligence to scout or Pyro, so you. The rest of us stay on the front lines and try to hold the other team off while you two do that. Engi stays by our intelligence to protect it.” Wow it really was capture the flag, just more dangerous and deadly. Fun. 

“For this mission, I want you to leave the intelligence be and just help hold the Blu team back. You set them on fire and get their health down; the rest of us will finish them off. If there’s a medic, go for the medic first.” I nodded to him and saluted. I get what he’s trying to do. He wants to see how good I am, what I need to work on, and if he can trust me. This is completely understandable. Soldier stared me down, silently judging me. I tried not to move. He was starting to scare me again. He didn’t stop staring at me until Engi walked in. 

“Mornin’ ya’ll.” I smiled at the friendly face, not that anyone could see it.

“Is the intelligence in place?” Soldier asked, completely changing his attention to Engi. 

“Yeah. Everything’s all set.” Soldier smirked. 

“Good work Soldier.” He patted Engi on the back and headed towards the door way to leave. Engi sat next to me and greeted me. He gave a me a few tips for being out in the field. Always spy check, always watch your back and look out for your team. Sounds simple enough. 

Engi told me it was about time to head down to the spawn so the two of us walked there together, he showed me the way to this room with a teleporter. 

“This here will take us to the spawn room with the arena. It ain’t my teleporter, but she gets the job done.” Engi explained. He then picked up a large tool box and stood on the teleporter. 

“See ya there.” Then he was gone. I waited a few seconds then stepped on the teleporter myself. There was a quick flash and suddenly I was somewhere else and I felt sick. Engi handed me a trash can. 

“First time being teleported, ya might need this, pardner.” I nodded my thanks to him. I thought I was going to have to use it, but turns out I didn’t need it. I was fine after a few seconds. 

I stood awkwardly as Demoman walked, or what I assumed was walking, around the room. This guy was never not drunk I swear. Eventually he made his way towards me.

“Pyro, Sorry for being a wee bit drunk on ye’. Name’s Demo. I’m always tryin’ta be a teensy bit drunk. Keeps me mind off the pain. Ye’know?” Wow. He didn’t sound that drunk. I nodded to him. “Aye thanks for understandin’, mate.” 

Demo took a few more big swigs of his bottle and walked off. Slowly the team teleported in and once we were all here, I heard the announcer. 

“Mission starts in 10 seconds.” I just realized I didn’t know the map. I remember Engi telling me it was called Teufort, but that’s about it. Luckily I was pretty good at remembering maps and all the twists and turns in them. 

“5, 4….” Well here goes nothing… “3, 2…” Can I do this? “1….” Is this going to hurt as much as they say? “Begin!” 

We raced out, most calling out with battle cries. I remained quiet. I ran out into a large room and looked around. Sniper, Scout, Soldier, Medic and Heavy went left. Engi went right. Demo straight. Spy… disappeared. I decided to follow where most of the others went and headed left. I trailed medic and Heavy, listening as Rockets were fired in near distance. Sniper’s rifle fired. A Scout screamed. Heavy yelled as he jumped down onto the ground, Medic right behind him. There was an old bridge in the middle, water on either side, tunnels under both ends of it. I breathed out. Game time. 

I lit my flamethrower, ready to use it when needed. Soldier was battling it out with a heavy medic team. Heavy and Medic were shooting at anyone they could. Sniper was on the upper platform of our base, trying to take care of blu sniper. Scout was probably in the other base. I couldn’t tell. 

Time to do my part. Soldier was watching me, I knew it. I had to prove to him I was good. I ran down the bridge and lit the enemy Soldier on fire. His screams rang though my ears. He lit up like a Christmas tree. Haha… He’s sparkly… 

Without hesitation I continue hitting the Soldier with my flames for a few seconds then run off, letting demo finish him off. I ducked, dodging the headshot the Blu Sniper would’ve had on me. Laughing, I slid between Blu Medic and Heavy, airblasted the Medic away from the Heavy so that he couldn’t heal him, turned lit the Heavy on fire and airblasted him into Soldier’s incoming rocket. When Blu heavy exploded Soldier laughed. I returned my attention to the Blu Medic, who at this point was trying to flee. Not on my watch. I switched out my flamethrower for my shotgun and took aim. Bang! Strike one… Bang! Strike 2… Bang! Strike 3 and you’re outta here! The Blu Medic fell without another breath.   
I gasped as a sharp pain ripped through my back. I turned to find Blu Scout shooting at me from behind. So that’s how he wanted to play. Okay. 

I ran towards him. He was faster, but I was smarter. I chased him into our base and into the basement, I heard a silent steady beeping sound. I vaguely remember Engi telling me about one of his weapons at dinner last night. What was it… I couldn’t remember. 

Either way this Scout seemed wary of approaching the area that the beeping was coming from. Poor guy, he’s probably just really shy of meeting Engi. Maybe I should just give him a little… push. 

I shot at the Blu Scout’s feet, throwing him off balance long enough for me to catch up to him. As I ran towards him I switched out my shot gun for my flamethrower. I chased him down a small hall that he didn’t seem to thrilled to be going down, into a room with a desk and… a briefcase. The intelligence! 

The Scout stopped right before entering the room. The beeping was loud. Shy little guy… Maybe I should help him. I airblasted him into the room and within a few quick seconds he went down screaming. I walked in and saw Engi laughing behind this big… sentry! That’s what it was! It automatically shoots people on the other team! Engi grinned at me the pointed up. “Go! Go! Go!” he called. I nodded, understanding that he wanted me back up top. 

I made my way out of the room and back down the same hallway. Then I heard a whooshing sound to my left. I turned to just see the Blu Spy disguise as our Spy. I knew spies were capable of that, but I didn’t realize they could do it so quickly. 

He ran down another hallway back towards Engi. Oh no he doesn’t. Followed the Spy and when I got back to the room he was next to the sentry. 

“Ah good. You got ze Scout. I saw him head in here and I wanted to make sure you were okay mon ami!” The Blu spy said. Engi nodded his thanks, thinking it was our Spy. I shook my head and yelled, hoping Engi would understand. 

“It’s a Spy!” I called out pointing at the Spy. Engi raised an eyebrow at me, confused. I rolled my eyes, running over. I was about to set the Spy on fire when Suddenly, there was a loud bang and everything went blank. 

When I came to I was back in the spawn.

“Damn… I died…” I muttered. I’d have to be more careful about approaching that Blu Spy. 

“We have taken the enemy intelligence.” I heard the announcer say which meant we were in the lead right now. We still had to capture it. Which meant whoever had the intelligence needed help. 

I ran out of the spawn again and out to the bridge. Soldier was struggling with Blue Demo and Soldier, I ran over to help him, and quickly I set the 2 on fire, leaving the rest to Soldier, which he seemed to be able to handle quite nicely. I looked around trying to find whoever had the intelligence so that I could help them. 

“Fire! Fire! Fiiiire!” the screaming came from Heavy. Where was Medic? I guess they got him. I wonder if I could… I made my way to Heavy, setting the enemy Medic/Heavy team on fire as I went, Sniper and Soldier made quick work with them. Heavy was currently fighting Pyro with his fist and wasn’t winning. Since my suit was fire proof, I jumped between them, quickly switching my flame thrower out for my fire ax. I jammed my ax into the pyro a couple of times until he finally died, but I was pretty beat up now. I switched back to my flamethrower and airblasted Heavy. Just as I hopped it would, it extinguished him. Good. 

“Thank you!” Heavy beamed at me. “Medic is dead! You fight with me!” He ordered, picking up his minigun. I nodded to him. 

“Come!” Heavy Instructed. 

He lead me into the Blu base where we were immediately bombarded by a sentry and Blu Scout. 

“We have captured the Enemy intelligence!” Announcer declared. 1-0. So far so good. I saw Blu Medic, but I wasn’t sure how he’d gotten there so fast. He must’ve respawned really fast. I looked up at Heavy, waiting for him to tell me what the plan was. He nodded slightly in the Medic’s direction. Now I was confused why did it seem like he was plotting with the other team? Heavy wouldn’t do that… Would he? 

“Use shot gun. Get tiny Engineer’s attention. I get little baby man.” Heavy ordered. Okay?? But wouldn’t the Medic just heal them?

“Go!” Heavy’s voice boomed as I switched to my shot gun and ran out. The Engi and the sentry locked on me. I thought I was going to die with the small bit of life I had left, but just before I thought I was going down, the shooting ceased. I saw little bolts coming off the sentry and the other building the Blu Engineer had up. The Blu Engi and Scout were on the ground with deep gushing holes in their back. 

“Ugh. I got blood on my suit…” I turned to the farmilier voice. Spy! So he was the Medic. I get it now. “Pow! Haha!” Heavy smiled victoriously. 

“Follow me.” Spy said. Heavy and I nodded, following Spy, he lead us up to the room right outside Blu’s spawn. The 3 of us stayed here, steadily taking down the Blu members as they came out of their spawn. I grabbed the small health pack in a room right off the larger one the 3 of us were in and rushed back to Heavy and Spy. The three of us laughed as we killed off each member of the Blu team. 

Within seconds we had another capture. “One more and we all go home.” Spy said. I smiled. “Yes! Cry some more! HAHAHAHAHA!” Heavy was having too much fun with this. Course I can’t say much. I was having the time of my life here just setting Blu member upon Blu member on fire. 

We hadn’t seen Blu Heavy or Blu Medic in a while, which was fine, Soldier, Demo, Scout and Sniper were probably taking care of them. I didn’t think about it too much.   
Then Blu Heavy and Medic rush out of the spawn, looking like a metallic version of their color. The stranger thing was, neither my fire nor my shotgun were doing any damage to either of them. What’s going on?! My body exploded with pain as the Blu Heavy focused his minigun on me. I yelled out and everything was blank. 

Back in spawn again, Heavy and Spy right behind me. I cocked my head to the side, showing I was confused. 

“Zat was an Ubercharge, mon Pyro.” Spy said. “Medic charges it with his medigun and then uses it on one of his teammates. It makes them invincible to all damage for a few seconds.” I sighed when Spy finished. 

That is some bullshit. That’s what that is. I’m going to have to find a way around that.


	4. Crash and Burn

Spy and Heavy didn’t waste another second in the spawn. They left, leaving me by myself while I thought about the uber charge for a minute. There had to be ways to stop it, if only long enough to take one of the duo down. Shaking my head, I decided I could think about it later and left the spawn. 

I went to the upper platform where Sniper was, taking head shot after headshot. I noticed a blue dot trailing up his arm and towards his head. I looked around and found that the Blu Sniper was hiding at the doorway of their base, pretty hard to see really. I turned back to Sniper. The Blue dot was now on his head. 

“No!” I called out running to Sniper and pushing him out of the way. I felt a sharp pain in the back of my head and fell to the floor. I blacked out. 

Once again I found myself in the Spawn. God damn that last death really hurt. Note to self: Don’t get shot in the head.

Jogging back to Sniper, to make sure he was okay, I noticed I was moving slower. I guess my adrenaline high was calming down a bit. I got back to Sniper pretty quickly. He waved at me and went right back to shooting the other team. He looked fine. Except for the Spy that was about to backstab him! 

“Sniper!” I called out. He didn’t seem to notice. Ugh here we go again. Bracing myself, for another very possible death, I rushed in with my flamethrower ablaze. 

“Fire, fire, fire!” The Spy yelled as he slowly burned to death. I backed him against the wall and torched him until he fell to the ground, dead. I sighed and turned to Sniper. He looked shocked.

“Thanks, mate. Again…” I nodded to him and pointed out on the field. He nodded back, returning to his killing.

“Stupid bloody spies…” I chuckled at his comment before moving on.

“The Enemy has taken our intelligence!” Announcer’s voice boomed over the speakers. Wait, if they had the intelligence, did that mean that Blu Spy had actually killed Engi? The question lingered in my head as I made my way towards the staircase to the basement, only to be greeted by the Blu Pyro with our intelligence.

“Hudda Mmph mmph!” Is that what I sounded like under my mask? How annoying. I reached for my ax, only to be airblasted away from the mumbling man. 

Now there was distance between us, so I grabbed my shotgun instead, shooting at the Pyro as he ran. He maneuvered the long halls of the base and was eventually led into a long pipe under the base that was covered in water. My guess was this led out into the water under the bridge. He was going to try and sneak the intelligence to his base through the pipes so that we couldn’t see him. Not today he’s not. 

Just as I was about to kill the Pyro, we went around a corner and I was pulled back and up on to a platform in the pipes that had a bunch of machines on the walls. I was thrown up against one of the walls where I dropped my shot gun. It was then that I saw Blu Spy in front of me. 

“You think you’re real smart, eh mon Pyro?” The Spy didn’t seem happy at all. I struggled to get away but he pinned me against the wall and held his knife up to my neck. Spy was pretty strong he could probably cut right through my mask and kill me here. I stopped moving. I knew that I would be respawned if I died, but I didn’t want to experience the pain he might cause while trying to kill me. So instead I hoped that if I didn’t struggle, he wouldn’t cause me too much pain.

How was Blu Spy even alive? Didn’t I just kill him not to long ago? Even a scout couldn’t have gotten here this fast. Blu Spy chuckled at me, probably because he felt me shaking under him. 

“I bet you think you’re real good at killing, but you’re sadly mistaken mon ami.” Spy glared at me and I felt really small, like an ant about to be stepped on. He replaced the knife with his forearm, pressing it against my neck, making breathing harder for me. He then slashed at my wrists, cutting right through the suit, causing me to cry out in pain. The Spy laughed, slashing at them again and again until blood covered the arms of my suit. I felt weak as though I was about to faint. The loss of blood was taking its toll on me. Tears were making steady streams down my face as the pain stayed long after he was done slashing at my wrists. 

“Aww. Not so big now are we?” Spy asked. I remained as still and as quiet as I could. He smirked, taking a quick slash at my stomach area, having no problem with cutting through the suit. I cried out again as he cut into the skin. It was deep enough to cause major pain, but not deep enough to kill me. However, I felt like death would be the better option now. Spy laughed again. 

“You’re just as pathetic as I expected you to be. You’re only good when you’re not backed against a wall. Any other mercenary would’ve already found a way out of this.” He was right. I should’ve already found a way out of this situation and been back out on the field, but I wasn’t. 

“I’m not going to kill you. I’m going to let the pain consume you. Perhaps next time, you’ll think twice before running around here killing everyone like you’re good at it because I can tell you mon pyro…” He dropped me, letting me fall to the floor and slashed at my legs. He managed two deep cuts under my left knee. I cried out one last time before turning to him as he took my ax and flamethrower away. 

“you’re not that great.” He smiled at me, holding up what looked to be a watch. It had green lights on it forming a circle in the middle. What was that? He chuckled once more at my pain before throwing my weapons in the water and taking his leave. 

“The enemy has secured our intelligence!” The announcer’s voice boomed through my ears. I had to get up. I whimpered out a cry as I went to move. I reached a hand up the wall, trying to use it to stand up. After a few seconds, I was on my feet. My left leg hurt like crazy, but I couldn’t let what Blu Spy did get to me. 

“MEDIC!” I called out. It was nothing but a mumble to the outside world, but I hoped that someone would come running upon hearing it. Nothing. I sighed and using the wall to keep me up, even though the pressure was killing my wrist, moved towards the water. It looked filthy and who knows what kind of germs were in it, however, I’d have to reach in and grab my ax if nothing else. I knelt down, wincing as intense pain shot through my leg, and sucked in my breath. Reaching down into the water I felt tears escape me as the water hit the cuts on my wrist. It stung worse than a hornet. 

“Damnit…” I breathed out. After a few seconds of patting around in the water I found my ax pulling it up. 

“The enemy has taken our intelligence!” I had to get out there. I pulled myself back up using the wall. I put the sharp end of the ax on the ground with the handle up top, then began to limp my way off the platform and back the way I came using the ax as a cane. Finally leaving the tunnel, I walked up the stairs that lead back into the base. 

“The enemy has captured our intelligence!” Damnit, no, not again. I felt useless. When I got to the top of the stairs I called out again. 

“Medic!!” I kept moving, hoping that someone heard. Nothing. I knew Blu team was going to head for the intelligence again, so I had to get to the intelligence room to help Engi the best I could. I looked around trying to remember how to get to the basement. Finally remembering, I began making my way down a hallway, stopping only to find myself face to face with the Blu Medic and Pyro. They stared at me for a few seconds. Then the Pyro launched himself at me. With the sudden adrenaline rush I grabbed the ax with both hands and swung at him. I heard a rip, followed by blood splatter and the sound of my ax burying itself in the wooden wall. The Pyro’s head rolled on the floor as his body fell to the ground. 

The Medic jumped back, looking from me to the Pyro, horrified. I pulled the ax out of the wall, stumbling and wincing as more pain shot through my entire body from all the wounds. My stomach cut was really starting to get to me now as I felt weaker. I moved the ax back to its original place as my cane and moved towards the Medic. He backed up.

“How?” He whispered, looking at my current condition. I limped forward again before stabilizing myself and raising my ax, managing a laugh. The Medic gasped and ran, afraid.  
I couldn’t get the ax back down before I fell. I felt light-headed and the world around me started to fizz out. Then it was black. 

*.-.-.-.-.-.-.*

“Hey fellas, ‘ave ya’ll seen Pyro lately? I ‘aven’t seen’em in a while.” Engi questioned as the team was headed back to spawn. The mission ended in a win for red, barely, and the tired team was ready to head back to their dorms for a much needed rest.   
Upon hearing this all the team members looked at each other with questioning looks. “Non.” Spy said, shaking his head. Engi frowned. “I vill check ze arena for zem. You head back.” Medic said. The members nodded, leaving the search to Medic as they headed back to their fort.   
It wasn’t long until Medic found the body of his fire loving teammate on the ground unconscious. “Pyro!” He called, rushing over. He flipped them on their back and examined the wounds. There was major blood loss and possible infection. Not a job he could just fix with the medigun. He picked up the crippled body, heading back to spawn as quickly as he could. He needed to get back to the infirmary in the fort as soon as possible or red team would be out another pyro.


	5. Blaze of Glory

Medic teleported back to the base. The others had been patiently waiting for him. When he got there they immediately turned to him, looking for answers, only to see their fire retardant friend hanging limply from his arms. Medic’s face had been flushed from all color at this point. 

“Is he okay?” Engi piped up. His words hung in the air as Medic ignored him, scurrying out of the room, leaving the members to contemplate what had happened.

*.-.-.-.-.-.-.*

Soldier Frowned at Medic as he sprinted out with the limp Pyro in his arms. How had Pyro managed to get so incredibly wounded was beyond him. So he decided he had to find out.

Making it his own mission, Soldier made his way around sharp corners and long corridors. His heavy footsteps were made known in the halls as they echoed. After a few more turns he found himself in the communications room. Here he could speak with the Administrator at anytime. Deciding that he needed to see just what Pyro had been up to during the mission, he turned towards a desk with an old radio communicator sitting on it and removed his helmet. Just looking at the radio reminded him of back when he was fighting in the war, when he communicated to his old commander. 

After a slight moment of nostalgia, he slid the dusty headphones onto his head as he sat down at the old worn out desk. Letting his fingers glide over the cool metal knobs of the radio, he began searching for the signal while pulling the microphone closer to him. Soldier found himself cringing at the loud static in his ears. Now he remembered why it was rare that he communicated with his commander during the war. The static on the radio could be ear piercing. 

After finally finding the signal, and just in time because his ears were killing him, he spoke into the microphone, calling out to the Administrator. 

“What is it Soldier?” The women’s words were stern and annoyed. Something was bugging her and Soldier had a feeling that it had something to do with today’s match. 

“I wanted a copy of the footage from the match today, ma’am. I want to see how the new recruit did today. I couldn’t keep my eye on’em the entire time. I’d like to see what I missed.” Soldier explained.

About 3 seconds after he finished a machine to his right began buzzing and beeping as something was being pushed through. After it stopped, a little flap opened to reveal a small tape. Solder swiped the tape out and read it. 

It read “Pyro: Capture The Flag-Teufort” with the date on it in messy handwriting. 

“There, watch it. I think you’ll both like and hate what you see,” And with that Administrator cut off the connection and the radio went quiet. 

Soldier shook his head, removing the old headphones from his head and replacing them with his helmet. He read the tape again before putting it in the tape player under the monitor in front of him. He flipped the switch on and a soft humming came from the monitor as it sparked to life. The Screen was black for several seconds before a picture replaced it. 

It started with the Pyro running out of the spawn and following the other out. He sets blu soldier on fire, then the Heavy and shoots the Medic. Soldier had seen this occur in person, but he didn’t realize how crazy Pyro actually looked out there until just now. Sure he enjoys killing the enemy just a much as the next guy, but Pyro… He seemed to be enjoying it just a little too much. 

Soldier chuckled at his fire-retardant teammate. Maybe he wasn’t so bad after all…

The American watched on as Pyro helped to kill off the scout with Engi, then risk his life to save Engi from the Spy, only to die and be respawed.

“He should’ve thought that one through…” Muttered words flew from Soldier’s lips as he watched Pyro be respawed after charging at the Blu Spy. 

Soldier found himself laughing when he got to the time when Pyro started working with Heavy and Spy at the Blu spawn. That was laughable how the Blu members kept trying to get by them. However, his laughing came to a quick halt when the Blu Heavy/Medic team ubered the 3 to their death. He would normally yell at his teammates for letting something like that kill them, but he knew that had he been one of those 3, he would’ve done the same thing. 

He watched Pyro save Sniper more times than should’ve been necessary after that; making a mental note to approach Sniper on his awareness skills next time he saw him and was very surprised to find that he was impressed. He knew that the Pyro wasn’t terrible, but he wasn’t expecting him to be a killing machine. Soldier was beginning to wonder when it was going to show how Pyro got so beat up when suddenly he found himself watching Pyro be pinned to a wall in the tunnels by Blu Spy.

Everything went downhill from there. 

Soldier cringed every time a muffled cry escaped the Pyro as he was sliced and diced by the Spy. When Spy finally left and Pyro stayed on the floor, he thought it was over and he made another mental note to brutally murder the Spy in the next mission for attacking Pyro like he had. It was completely un-called for. Had it been one of his other teammates he would’ve said they deserved it because he had trained them to get out of situations such as that and if they didn’t get out of it, it was their fault. However, it was obvious that Pyro was not as good with these certain situations, and the Spy should’ve just killed him and got it over with like any honorable mercenary would. 

Soldier growled at the screen. The frenchman had always ticked him off, but this was just another reason to blow him to bits. He was about to turn the video off when he noticed movement on the screen. He watched as his teammate pulled himself up and over to the water to retrieve his ax. He grinned when he saw Pyro use the ax as a cane to pull himself around. That maggot was still trudging along!

Just when Soldier thought it couldn’t get any better, he stared at the screen, amazed, as Pyro managed to muster up enough strength to chop off the head of the enemy Pyro. Soldier laughed and only laughed harder when the Medic backed away from Pyro, confused as to what had just happened, before running. 

Soldier did frown however when the maggot finally fell to the ground, out cold. He’d pushed himself too hard trying to continue helping the team. Soldier nodded to the virtual body of his teammate, as though it were really him. He had found a new respect for the fire-lover and was very proud have him on the team. Now, Soldier just needed Pyro to get better, so that he could recognize him for the honorable Soldier that he was on that mission. 

Soldier pressed the eject button removing the tape and putting it in his jacket, the inner pocket being just big enough to hold it. Then he left the room, heading in the direction of the infirmary. 

*.-.-.-.-.-.-.*

“Bitte..bitte….bitte…” The silent pleas flowed from Medic’s lips as he frantically burrowed through his fridges for the item he was looking for. 

“Aha!” He beamed when he pulled out a pint of O+ blood. He made his way back to Pyro who he had placed on the operating table. Knowing he didn’t have any time to waste he began to remove the suit, unzipping it. After unzipping the tattered suit enough to take the mask off, he made haste in removing it from his teammate’s head, letting it fall to the floor. When he ripped the mask off, he froze, staring at the face of his teammate. He was shocked at what he found and it was definitely not what he expected. 

He expected to find hard facial features of a man, but instead he found himself looking at the small, delicate features of a woman. Small mousy nose, cheekbones and messy brown hair pulled into a braid. It was definitely not what he expected to find. Shaking his head, he continued his job. 

Much to his pleasure, when Medic opened her suit, she was wearing a tank top and shorts under it. He wanted to respect some boundaries here. Medic lifted her slightly, tearing the remains of the torn and tattered suit out from under her and off her body completely. 

Medic examined the wounds to their full extent now. He counted at least 5-6 cuts on each wrist/forearm area. Her right arm was still moist up to her elbow, to which Medic assumed was from the water in the pipes as the wounds on that arm looked infected. They were oozing with yellowish tinted clear liquid filled with tiny streaks of blood and cherry red all around the areas. They were definitely infected. He could believe it. That was the sewage water after all.

Once he finished examining the wounds on her wrist, Medic moved to the gash on her stomach. Lifting her tank top enough to examine the wound he could tell that most of the gash looked like it had been a clean cut, but on the ends, it looked ripped, almost as though the skin had been over stretched to further rip and open the wound. Whether intentional or not, Medic was sure that the ripped skin had been what pushed her over the edge. The pyro’s entire shirt was drenched in blood from the stomach wound. Medic examined it further, looking for further damage. There was light infection, but all organs seemed to have remained intact. 

“You are very lucky fräulein,” The hushed words fell from Medic’s lips as he moved onto the injured leg.

Had these gashes been made any deeper, Pyro would not have been able to walk. They were just deep enough to cause bleeding with the slightest movement and to bring immense pain to the person. Whoever had done this to her, wanted her to suffer. 

After realizing that the biggest problem was blood loss and the infected wounds on her right arm, Medic went to work, using gentle hands to cut the dead skin around all the sliced areas followed by cleansing them. He applied a cold clear liquid to the wounds, to further clean them before taking gauze rolls and wrapping her up tight like a little present on each injured area. 

After the wounds and surrounding areas were cleaned up to the best of his ability, he dampened a towel proceeding to wipe away the blood streaks on her exposed skin. Once finished, he sat back and waited. He couldn’t use his medigun on her until the infections were gone. When the infections have deteriorated he will use the medic gun to close the wounds and finish up the healing of them. Until then he could only sit and wait, replacing her gauze periodically. 

Since her body was unconscious at the moment, it would take care of most of the infection itself until she woke up again. Medic pumped in some of the new blood to replace what she lost. She’d need it because she was only going to lose more as the infections cleared up. 

Medic wiped his forehead of sweat when he finished hooking Pyro up to his machines, so that he could continue watching her vitals. A small, tired sighed escaped him. He was exhausted, but he still had to notify the others of Pyro’s health, so he dragged himself to the doors, opening them slightly and slipped out.

“Is he okay, Doc?” The Scout’s frantic and concerned words rang through the quiet hall as the members of Red turned to Medic, waiting for the answer they all wanted. 

“Yah. Pyro vill be fine,” Medic declared with a nod. There seemed to be a collective sigh of relief from the red members as Medic spoke. 

“Can Heavy see tiny man?” Heavy’s normally loud and excited voice had been reduced to one that is quiet and sad. Medic pondered this for a moment before deciding that he should respect Pyro’s privacy. He didn’t know if Pyro’s gender was supposed to be a secret or not, but if it was, he wasn’t going to be the one to let it out. 

“Nein, ve should leave him be. Let him rest.” Heavy’s face sank at this, but he nodded, understanding. Heavy and the others, knowing that at this point in time there was nothing else for them here went their separate ways and headed to their dorms for much needed rest. Medic let out another hefty sigh and returned to his desk in the infirmary, quietly taking notes on Pyro’s vitals.

*.-.-.-.-.-.-.*

I let out a groan as I opened my eyes to bright lights and a pounding headache. I tried to sit up only to be pushed back down by not only the pain that shot through me, but the hand that insisted I lay back down. 

“Not zo fast fräuline. No sitting up yet,” the husky and tired voice hit my head hard, only causing it to hurt more. You’d think I was currently experiencing a hangover. I closed my eyes again as the light hurt my eyes. That’s when I thought about it. The thick German accent and the heavy smell of latex that filled my nose, I was in the infirmary and Medic was here. 

I opened my eyes against the light once again. Why was it so bright? Then I realized my mask wasn’t on. Which is why the lights were brighter, the mask wasn’t there to dim the light. I moved my hands to my sides slightly only to hiss at the pain. I felt around, no suit. Damnit.

“Stop moving! Zat vill only cause you pain. Now, tell me vat hurts.” Medic’s voice was stern. I whimpered a bit as his voice echoed throughout my pounding head.  
I thought about not answering him, for the sake of my secret being kept, but then I remembered that I had neither my mask nor my suit on, so it didn’t really matter anymore. Medic already knew I was female, if he had any brains in that head of his. I’ve got nothing to lose. 

“Does everything count as an answer?” I asked, irritated with my head. I heard Medic give a small chuckle. 

“Sawry, but nein. Specifically vat hurts.” Medic grinned. Wow, he looked tired. 

“My head is pounding. My stomach feels like you’re digging your saw into it, and my right wrist hurts pretty bad. My leg and left wrist don’t hurt to bad though.” I explained. Medic nodded, writing what I was saying down, or at least that’s what it looked like. 

“Your stomach iz ze vorst off. Your vight wrist iz pretty infected und you probably hit your head ven you fainted.” The Medic explained in a lethargic voice. 

“So how long am I going to be here?” I asked, not really wanting to stay in here any longer than I had too. 

“Anozer couple of hours. Ven ze infection izn’t as serious. Zen I can use mien Medigun und finish healing you completely.” He finished scribbling whatever it was that he was writing and sat back in his chair. He closed his eyes and I found myself watching his stomach rise up and down at a steady pace. Atleast until the quietness became too overwhelming for me.

“Hey Medic,” He opened one eye to look at me, acknowledging that fact that I was speaking. “you’re not going to tell anyone are you? About my gender?” 

“Not if you don’t vant me to, fräulien.” He smiled at me and I nodded my thanks. He nodded back, standing up. “Now get some rest. Ven you vake up, I vill have you healed.”

Had my head not been pounding, I might’ve argued with the German and tried to get him to just heal me now, but sleeping didn’t sound so bad at that moment. I nodded to him, and let my eyes shut and the darkness consume me again. 

*.-.-.-.-.-.-.*

Medic left the room, leaving his patient to rest so that he could get some food. As he started down the hallway he noticed a figure approaching him. 

“Soldier.” Medic nodded to his short-tempered teammate. 

“Evening Medic. How’s the recruit?” Soldier’s words were loud, but relatively calm at the same time. Well, as calm as Soldier could possibly be. 

“He iz better und vill be back on his feet in a few hours.” Soldier nodded at the Medic, taking note of how worn out and tired the man was. 

“If the maggot is fine for now, get something to eat and take a nap, Soldier. You look like you’ve been hit by a train.” Soldier ordered. Medic smiled a bit, it was rare that Soldier was this agreeable. Medic wondered what might have caused him to be this calm, but didn’t question it. He enjoyed the times when Soldier wasn’t busting his eardrums. 

Soldier watched Medic walk off then glanced in the infirmary through the small windows on the metal door. The chair was turned away from him, all he could see in the room to prove that Pyro was there, was the mangled and torn asbestos lined suit in the corner and the man’s mask sitting on the corner. Soldier ran through his mind what Pyro might actually look like under the mask. Black hair, chiseled jaw, maybe a small beard? Soldier shook his head at the thought. That definitely wasn’t possible. He’s about Scout’s age, so Soldier found himself imagining that Pyro looked similar to Scout. 

After thinking on it for a few moments Soldier grew bored. It was obvious that Pyro wasn’t going to be able to coherently listen to him right now, much less talk to him. So, Soldier headed back to the break room where he’d most likely find one of his teammates to yell at. Or perhaps he’d find Engi and talk to him. Engi was the only one who Soldier could talk to for extensive amounts of time without getting completely irritated with him and it was something Soldier thoroughly enjoyed in fact. It was nice having someone to talk to late at night after a long day. 

*.-.-.-.-.-.-.*

“Pyro! Vake up!” Medic’s voice pulled me out of the darkness of my slumber. My eyes fluttered open and I felt a hand on my back, pushing me forward, helping me to sit up. I prepared for the pain that was sure to follow my movement, but to my surprise, I was fine. There wasn’t any pain at all. I turned to Medic, my eyes wide with confusion. He simply returned with a smile.

“No pain, yah?” He asked, chuckling a bit at my reaction. 

“None! Medic, you’re amazing!” I beamed, looking at all my recently injured body parts. Everything had been healed. All the gashes and cuts were nothing but scars now. The scar on my stomach looked the best, due to the torn ends of it, it looked like a crooked crescent. I turned excitedly, hopping off the bed. I wanted to move again. I hated being in one place for too long. 

However, my rapid switching of positions caused me to have a dizzy spell. I lost my balance and started to fall. Medic caught me promptly, chuckling. 

“Nein. I just healed you. Don’t hurt yourself again!” He joked. I quickly regained my balance and stepped away from him. I could feel my face turning the slightest bit pink from the incident. 

“Hehe… Sorry Medic.” I laughed nervously. He chuckled once more at the color of my cheeks before waving it off. He then stood up, reaching for something on one of his higher shelves. 

“I thought you mean like zis to wear,” He stated, pulling one of my suits down and handing it to me. “Your last vas a bit vorn…” He said glancing at the shredded suit next to the trash. 

“You went into my room?” I grinned, raising an eyebrow and taking the suit. 

“Nein, nein, nein! It’s not like zat!!” Medic’s words were defensive and he raised his hands as though claiming he was innocent. I laughed at him. 

“I understand. Thank you Medic. I appreciate it.” I stepped towards him and gave him a hug, showing my thanks. He stood frozen by the act at first, but slowly relaxed into it.  
“Bitte.” He smiled, returning the hug. 

*.-.-.-.-.-.-.*

“Why didn’t you tell me it was breakfast time?!” I whined, zipping my suit up and pulling on my mask. I grabbed Medic’s hand and drug him down to the dining room with me. I didn’t get lost either. I think I’m finally learning my way around this place. When we got there I was greeted by all 7 of my other teammates. When they saw me their faces seemed to brighten a bit. 

“Aye Lassie!” Demo was the first to speak up and his voice was soon followed by others. The loudest of all being Heavy who seemed so genuinely overjoyed to see me. 

“Leetle fire man is okay!” The words hopped from Heavy’s mouth as he picked me up and spun around with a hearty laugh. 

I laughed as he spun us around. The entire room seemed to come alive at my presence although I couldn’t figure out why. Demo was celebrating with drinking, not surprising. Scout was running about talking about how he knew I’d be fine and he wasn’t worried. Spy, Sniper and Engi sat at the table smiling and laughing at Heavy. Medic took a seat at the table, a small grin on his face. And then there was Soldier who sat quietly at the end of the table, emotionless, and with him he held a box. If anything I would’ve thought Soldier would be giving me the riot act for my performance in the mission, but he sat there and let the others enjoy the moment. However a few moments later Soldier stood up and everyone grew quiet, turning to him with smiles. 

“Good to see you up and moving, maggot.” Soldier started with a smirk. He received a chuckle from the rest of the team. Why are they chuckling? 

“If it makes you feel any better, the ladies love scars,” He added. The others nodded in agreement, including Medic who played along. In turn I played along and wiped where my forehead would be on my mask as though I were saying “Phew.” This got a few laughs from the guys.

“Alright, Alright back to business,” Soldier began. Oh no here it comes. I prepared myself for the yelling of a lifetime.

“Pyro… Great job out there yesterday, son. You made me proud,” My eyes widened as the words left Soldier’s lips. I what? Did he just say that?

“I admit I had my doubts about you and how trustworthy you were, but I take it back. Your performance was much better than I expected yesterday and I commend you for it.” Soldier went on. Sure… I did well with what he saw. Luckily he doesn’t know about the Spy incident. 

“I had the Administrator send a tape of your parts in the mission yesterday after Medic brought your limp body back to base. I had to find out what happened. After watching the video and showing the others I think I speak for everyone when I say, I don’t know how you mustered up the strength to pull off that last kill, but son. That was incredible.” Soldier grinned, starting to clap. The others followed. 

I stood dumbfounded. Soldier was… proud of me? They continued to clap for a few more seconds before Soldier went to speak again. 

“However, Due to your lack of skills to get out of such situations you were put in, I will be putting you through vigorous training to fix that.” Soldier declared. There it is. That’s what I was waiting for. I saluted him signifying I understood. He nodded, saluting back. 

“And now, a present from the Admin herself. Your first new weapon.” Soldier walked over to me, handing me the box he had been holding. I took it, placing it on the table. Scout was suddenly to the right of me, waiting for me to open it. I wasted no time, opening the box. In it I found the prettiest ax I’ve ever laid my eyes on. It was made of black stone, the sharp ends bright orange and hot to the touch. A note was attached to the box. 

“Good work. You’re proving to be a good choice. Take this as our way of thanks for making us proud. It’s a Sharpened Volcano Fragment. It will set your enemies on fire on contact. Enjoy it and don’t hesitate to use it. Good luck and keep it up. –Administrator” 

I smiled, pulling the ax from the box, raising it to stare at its beauty. It was a gorgeous weapon and I couldn’t wait to use it.  
The others “ooed” and “AHed” at it. I mean how could they not? It was beautiful. 

“Aw man! That looks awesome! Way to go mumbles!” Scout yelled. For some reason the name “Mumbles” just didn’t set well with me. Let’s see how well this thing works.  
I turned to Scout sharply, ramming my ax into his arm, to which he immediately caught fire. 

“AH! I’M BURNIN! I’M BURNIN!” He yelled, running around. The room burst into laughter as Scout completely lost it. Spy walked over thanking me and shaking my hand, proud of me. Medic used his Medigun on Scout after a few seconds, not stopping his laughter at any point. 

“Haha, yeah real funny,” Scout pouted. 

I love these guys.

*.-.-.-.-.-.-.*

Loud footsteps echoed throughout the room as Blu Spy walked across the tile floor. Each step seemed to echo longer. They only stopped when the Spy was a couple feet away from a dark figure in the shadows. 

"Morning," He spoke in a monotonous voice. 

"Good work today," the figure spoke before having a mild coughing fit. The harsh coughing echoed in the room just like the footsteps had. Spy waited until the coughing ended before speaking again. 

"Oui, it was easy. She was weak and illprepared." The figure chuckled at the man's response. 

"Keep this up. I like to torture my prey before going in for the kill." Blu Spy scrunched his nose up at this. 

"But I am ze one doing ze dirty work." The figure seemed to tense at this. 

"I would do it myself," They coughed some more. "but I can not risk putting myself in danger." she continued. Spy nodded in understanding. 

"I will continue to do as you say as long as you continue to pay." Spy spoke as a bag full of money was tossed at him. He grinned to the figure and nodded. 

"Now go." 

Spy picked up his bag of money and turned on his heels, taking his leave. 

"Slow and painful, Spy. Don't forget." The figure spoke as the Spy left, leaving the room with nothing but the sound of his steady footsteps and the harsh coughing from figure in the shadows.


	6. Hot n' Cold

“No mission today, men. We beat the Blu’s so well yesterday that they have to use today to recover. Enjoy your day off. Except you Engi, you come with me.” Soldier stated, gathering his dishes up and taking them to the kitchen.

“Aw, hell. I’m coming…” Engi sighed, also gathering his own dishes and following Soldier. He sounded so disappointed and I felt bad for him. Poor guy, seems like he hadn’t had an actual break day for a while and here Soldier was, making him work. Soldier must’ve had a good reason for making him work though… Right?

“Oi, and you’re not getting out of your chores this toime, Scoot.” Sniper growled, grabbing Scout by the back of his shirt and dragging him towards the kitchen for dish duty.

“Hey! Put me down, ya frickin’ Australian nutjob!” The struggled words escaped from Scout’s mouth as he attempted to fight the taller man in an effort to get away. Sniper,   
however, was stronger and managed to stuff the squirming Bostonian in the kitchen.

I chuckled at Scouts efforts to escape, knowing all too well that Sniper would overpower the little guy. It was a good effort though. I’ll give him that.

“Leetle fire man! You come with us!” Heavy’s voice boomed excitedly. I turned towards his voice to find he, Medic and Spy in the doorway with their plates.

“We have business to discuss.” Spy added.

I nodded to the men, gathering my dishes and following them to the kitchen where we dumped our dishes in the sink for Scout to clean.

I waved to Sniper on the way out as he guarded the door to the kitchen, making sure Scout actually does his share of the work instead of sneaking off. He tipped his hat to me and muttered “Congrats on the new weapon, mate,” before returning his attention to guarding the door. 

Sniper seemed to be a very quiet guy. Actually, he was like the loner of the group it seemed; only talking when he has to or feels that he should. I believe I even heard Engi say during the tour of the base that Sniper normally sleeps and hides out in his van rather than in the dorms. This was upsetting though. Sniper seemed like a cool guy, I wish he would be more social. I’d really like to get to know him better.

*.-.-.-.-.-.-.*

“So, uh, what didja’ need me for?” Engi asked as Soldier brought him out into the back of the base. The hot desert air was causing his throat to become dry and scratchy. He looked over the landscape before him. It was nothing but sand and the ruins of an old obstacle course Soldier had him build a long time ago to train the team. It had been destroyed by a large sandstorm that came through a few months back. Engi was upset when it had been destroyed; he and Soldier had worked a solid 32 hours straight to get it built and it was torn apart in just a few short minutes.

“Based off what is left of the old course, you and I are going to build another stronger and tougher course. Pyro needs to train on an actual course if he wants to get anywhere in the field without ending up like he did.” Soldier explained staring out over the land that was open for them to use. Engi looked at the ruins thoughtfully, his mind already buzzing with ideas for the new course. It would be a tough course to get through, each part testing the challenger’s combat abilities. It would be grand.

“Sure seems like a lot fer just Pyro. The boy can fight just fine.” Engi stated, still drawing up mental blueprints for the course. He’d happily build the course, just because he likes building, but he was still confused as to why Soldier wanted to build an entire course just for one mercenary.

“Until he’s put into close combat situations without his weapons. He needs to learn hand-to-hand combat, and he needs to learn how to not get put in that kind of situation to begin with.” Soldier growled. “The course will be needed to build his strength, agility, and endurance so that he has the ability to keep himself out of sticky situations.”

Engi looked at his teammate, considering everything he’d said before returning his gaze to the ruins.

“Well. We better git to gittin on this course than. Ya’ll wait here, I gotta grab my tools and I’ll be back in a flash.” Engi declared, excited for the new project. Soldier watched Engi walk away. He’s never seen anyone so excited about building things. Sure, it’s what Engi did for a living, but didn’t he ever get tired of it? Soldier shrugged away the thought, removing his jacket so that he was only wearing his white wife beater and the rest of his uniform.

After folding his jacket and setting it down on an old log, he headed over to the ruins of the old course, looking them over. There was a lot of work to be done, and for Soldier, they couldn’t get it done fast enough. He growled at himself, wishing he had started on the course before Pyro arrived, so that he could begin training the fire lover sooner.

*.-.-.-.-.-.-.*

Spy lead us to the living room where he motioned for us all to take a seat. I sat on the couch on the end with Heavy on the other and Medic in between us. Spy sat comfortably in one of the armchairs, lighting himself one of his cigarettes. He took a long drag of his cancer stick before turning to us.

“Vat do you vant, Spy?” Medic’s voice was impatient as he turned to give a small glare to the Frenchman.

“Gentleman, I’d like to discuss a game plan for ze mission tomorrow.” Spy stated, looking towards us.

“Vat do you mean, Spy? Since vhen do ve have a ‘plan?’ Ve go in, ve kill ze blus und ve go mit unseren Tag!” Medic stated. I glanced at him and realized that his face was flushed with irritation. Note to self: if I want to understand what Medic is saying, don’t piss him off. I can understand his irritation; however, this “discussion” did seem kind of pointless.

“I mean that Pyro, Heavy and I had ze most kills yesterday because we kept ze blus back in their spawn. Until their Medic ubercharged their Heavy.” Spy stated, taking small drag of his cigarette. “I think we can do that again tomorrow, but in order to get out of there before their Medic and Heavy kill us… we’ll need your help.” His nicotine-strung words filled the room.

It was quiet for a few seconds as Medic sat back against the couch, taking in what Spy had said. I looked from him to Spy, wondering where the conversation would go next. Heavy stared at Medic with hopeful eyes. Spy just sat there staring at Medic and smoking his cigarette.

“Alright. Vat iz your plan, Spy?” Medic finally said, his words now calm. Spy smiled, happy that he finally had Medic’s attention.

“Ze plan was to do as we did last time, towards ze end of ze mission so ze Blu team can’t stop us, but when their Heavy and Medic go to uber us again, Medic, you’ll have to uber Heavy. I can get away by cloaking and you two should be distraction enough until Pyro can manage to get away using you two as a shield. What do you zink, mes amis?” Medic sat on the couch mulling over the plan for a few moments.

“Is good plan!” Heavy’s voice boomed happily. Medic looked at him and frowned the tiniest bit, barely noticeable, but I saw it. I turned to Spy who offered a grin to Heavy before turning to me. I nodded at him. It sounded like a pretty good plan. From what I saw, nothing gets through an uber, so I could very well use Medic and Heavy as a shield to escape. Then, by the time they catch back up to me, we will have already won the match, hopefully.

Medic turned to me, his frown disappearing. He stared at me for a few short seconds before returning his attention to Spy and sighing.

“Fine. I vill help you.” Medic muttered.

*.-.-.-.-.-.-.*

After Spy’s meeting, we went our separate ways. Medic went back to the infirmary the second he could. Spy just kind of disappeared and I’m assuming Heavy went to go clean his gun.

I turned towards the direction of the infirmary. Medic looked pretty upset when he left, and what was up with that frown when he looked at Heavy? Even though I haven’t known Medic that long, he doesn’t seem like the type to be so upset with something so little as a conversation with the group about a plan for the mission. Something must be eating at him and I wanted to find out what. So, I made my way to the infirmary, hoping Medic might actually open up to me.

*.-.-.-.-.-.-.*

“Who iz it?” Medic called from the infirmary, his words laced with anger. I bit my lip, scared to enter. I’ve heard Medic when he was irritated, but he really seemed ticked off. I breathed out, gathering myself and looking down both sides of the halls, making sure no one was following me. Then I pushed the door open and was greeted by a severely upset Medic.

“Did I say enter?” He yelled, turning to me. After realizing it was me his gaze softened and he returned his attention to the desk.

“Oh, it’s you, Fräulein.” His words now softer, but anger still coated them. I locked the doors to the infirmary, not wanting to be interrupted, and removed my mask. Medic glanced up at me, but his gaze quickly returned to the paperwork on his desk. I frowned, walking over to him. He looked so stressed, frustrated and still a little sleepy.

I removed my gloves, setting them on one of his counters and glided my hands onto his shoulders, pressing gently with my thumbs on the tense muscles. I made small circles on the tight muscles, not letting up on the pressure at all.

Seconds later I felt Medic relax into the massage, followed by a soft sigh. I smiled a little, happy to see the stress drain from his face and a relaxed expression replacing it.  
“Better?” I asked. Medic nodded, sitting back in his chair.

“I noticed you looked upset when you left the living room this morning. I thought some company might do you good, but I can leave if you want.” I said softly, trying to work my words just right so as to not piss him off again. I haven’t seen Medic this relaxed since I’ve been here, which hasn’t been long, but still.

“Nein. You’re fine, Fräulein. Danke.” His words fluttered out of his mouth as he let his anger leave him for the time being. I moved my thumbs lower, working at the lower half of the muscles, as I wondered how much stress and anger Medic might have been keeping locked up and for how long.

“Medic, if there’s ever something you need to get off your chest, you can talk to me. I won’t say a word to anyone and even if I wanted to I couldn’t because no one can understand me under my mask.” I offered, smiling at the end. Medic smirked a bit at my mask comment and looked at his desk thoughtfully as though he were trying to decide what he wanted to say, if anything.

“Danke Pyro, I vill remember zat.”

I continued making small circles on his muscles for several minutes. When he said nothing more I frowned. I was really hoping that would get him to open up about what was angering him. I want to know, but I don’t want to bug him so much that he gets upset with me; he’s the one who operates on me, the last thing I want to do is piss him off. Not to mention he’s the only person on this team that I can talk to who’ll actually understand me.

I gave a small sad sigh, realizing that if he wanted to say anything he would and since he wasn’t saying anything it was none of my business. Medic stirred at the sound of my sigh though.

“Pyro?”

“Yes, Medic?”

He went silent for a few seconds before sighing.

“I vant you to be careful tomorrow. Until you learn how to defend yourself in bad situations like last time, I vant you to stay close to somevon. I don’t vant you getting hurt again.” His words were strung with concern and worry. I smiled softly at his orders.

“Don’t worry, Medic. I’m not going to let that Spy get the better of me twice in a row.”

“Vell. In case somezing does happen. Call for me und if I can, I vill come for you.”

I frowned, remembering that I had called for Medic yesterday and he never came, no one did.

“Medic… I called for you yesterday. No one heard me.” I stated. He turned his head a little and gave me a sideways glance.

“It must be because of your mask.” His words were distant. He must have been lost in thought. 

“I vill see vat I can do about zat. In ze meantime, you should prepare yourself for tomorrow.”

“Okay, I will.” I replied with a nod. I abandoned his shoulders, knowing that he was at the very least less stressed. I reached around him, grabbing my gloves and returning them to my hands.

“Try not to stress yourself out to much, okay?” I muttered softly. He nodded, offering a small smile. I returned the smile and replaced my mask on my head. I made small strides towards the door, not really wanting to leave.

When I finally made my way out of the infirmary, much to my dismay, I found myself unsure of what to do. After walking around the base for what seemed like forever, I decided to just go back to my room and clean my weapons, preparing them for tomorrow’s battle.


	7. Hot Pursuit

“Time to get up, maggots! We’ve got some Blu’s to kill!” Soldier’s voice boomed throughout the hall. You could tell he hadn’t gotten much sleep but, at the same time, he was as wide awake as ever. His heavy footsteps made loud “thumps” against the wooden floor as he marched down the hall banging on door after door.   
I woke with a groan as Soldier pounded on my door. 

“Pyro! Get up Soldier! The time for war is now!” Soldier ordered. 

I groaned again, sitting up and rubbing my eyes. I looked at the clock, 4:25. I didn’t exactly have to be up and ready for at least another good 35 minutes, yet I found that I was pulling myself out of bed and to the bathroom. I wanted to stay on Soldier’s good side and in order to do that I needed to follow his orders. 

“Pyro! Meet me in the living room ASAP!” Soldier yelled before I heard his footsteps walking away. 

I sighed, no time for a shower this morning. I quickly undid the braid in my hair from yesterday, brushing it out before returning it to another tighter braid. I brushed my teeth and got dressed, putting on a black tank top and a pair of shorts before pulling on the thick suit and zipping it up. 

After slipping on my boots and gloves I grabbed my mask, sighing. Of course the gas mask was required for me to wear no matter what, if my team knew about me or not, it was for my own health and safety. However, I hated not being able to communicate efficiently to my team. 

I pulled my mask on, pushing away any feelings I might have about it and reached for my weapons. I attached my new ax and shotgun to my back, making sure I could reach them easily should I need to and picked up my flamethrower, looking it over. She looked good today; I had given her a good cleaning last night and refilled her tank up. She was ready to kill. I smiled a little at my flamethrower before finally making my way out of my room and towards the living room where Soldier ordered me to meet him. 

“It’s about time, maggot.” Soldier spat. “I hope you’re ready for revenge today, son.” 

I waved to Soldier as I walked in, placing my flamethrower to the side before approaching him. I nodded at the revenge comment. I would have it. Blu Spy made me look weak in front of my team and I wasn’t about to let it happen again.

“Good. That’s what I like to see!” 

The next 15 minutes consisted of Soldier teaching me a few basic self defense techniques should I need them today. First being that should Blu Spy attack me from the front, I should immediately take my hand and use the bottom of my palm to smash into his nose, breaking it and possibly killing him on the spot. If it doesn’t kill him I just use a foot to pull a leg out from under him and throw him to the ground while he’s distracted with his nose. 

The other being that if he grabs me from behind I should stomp on his foot, elbow his ribs, punch his nose with the back of my hand and lastly elbow him in the groin. Soldier said that it would work at least long enough for me to torch that “son of a bitch,” as he put it. Soldier also said that if worse comes to worse, kick him in the kneecap which would easily bring him to the ground in pain. Not to mention he wouldn’t be able to run after me in that state. So at that point all I would have to worry about is his revolver. That could be easily taken care of, however. Just blast the hand that’s holding it off with my shotgun or chop it with my ax. 

I smiled at the thought of using my new ax. I couldn’t wait to use it. It was a beautiful weapon and just the thought of lighting up a blu with the touch of it excited me. I could barely keep still I was so excited. 

“That should keep you safe today, maggot. Just remember those techniques when and if the time comes.” Soldier said, turning away from me to leave the room. “But, you should probably stay close to one of us today as much as possible.” He added before walking out of the room. 

I watched him leave before turning to the clock hanging on the wall. 4:50am, I had 10 minutes to stuff food down my throat. I wasted no time in grabbing my flamethrower and heading towards the kitchen, where I was greeted by a lethargic Medic. 

“Ah, guten morgen, herr Pyro.” Words crawled from Medic’s mouth as if they themselves had just woken up. 

I’m going to be honest. Medic looked like crap. You could tell the man hadn’t slept much if at all. I looked around the room and in the halls to see if anyone was coming before lifting my mask slightly to uncover my mouth. 

“Medic, are you okay?” I asked, making sure that my concern could be heard. Medic smirked slightly. 

“I’m fine, Fräulein.” 

“You don’t look fine.” 

“Nein, I’m fine. Not much sleep iz all.” Medic yawned, taking a final sip of his coffee. He put his cup in the sink before turning to me, offering a smile when he saw that I was chowing down on an apple. 

“Ah. By ze vay. Here.” He said matter-of-factly, reaching into one of his bags. 

He pulled out a small headset and handed it to me. 

“Put zat on. It vill help me hear you out in ze battlefield if you need me.” He instructed, putting a small earpiece in his ear that was unnoticeable on the outside. “I vill be able to hear you, but I can’t respond back.”

“Okay, thanks Medic” I said, swallowing the rest of the apple before tossing the core in the trash. Medic stepped in front of the door, stretching while I put the headset on and pulled my mask back over my head. 

“Can you hear me Medic?” I asked, hoping my mask wasn’t interfering with the microphone. 

“Loud und clear, Fräulein.” Medic smiled. 

I looked at the clock on the oven and realized we needed to be in the spawn in 2 minutes. 

“We better get moving.” I said. He nodded, picking up his Medi-gun. We made our way to the spawn. 

*.-.-.-.-.-.-.*

Soldier gave a small yawn as he adjusted his grenades. 

“The obstacle course is finished, Soldier.” A tired voice yawned behind him. Soldier turned to see Engi messing with his PDA. 

“Already? Good.” Soldier grinned. Although he wouldn’t be training anyone today it would seem. Practically everyone had to drag themselves out of bed today just to fight in the mission. 

“Thanks Engi.” Soldier added. 

“No problem, partner.” Engi said with another small yawn. 

“Hang in there Engi. After today’s fight you can sleep all you want.” 

“Looking forward ta it.” Engi smiled. 

After that Engi walked away to deal with what he needed too in the last few seconds. Soldier scanned the room to watch his teammates. Aside from Heavy, Spy, Scout, and Pyro, everyone looked exhausted. It was going to be a rough battle with half the team barely awake. He knew Engi had a long night, he was there with him the entire time almost. Medic seemed to be extra tired today. Demo was just experiencing a hangover, and Sniper just looked bored and half asleep. 

Soldier sighed, glancing at Spy and Pyro. The two were talking about something. Hopefully a plan to save today’s mission. Took looked over Pyro, it fascinated Soldier that the man had just been through that kind of experience on his first day and now wasn’t showing any signs of fear. Then again, he couldn’t really see the fire user’s face either so he couldn’t really look for many signs. 

Pyro was a good mercenary though. He was trained well and knew what he was doing, so maybe he just isn’t all that worried about getting hurt again because he knows what to expect now. Scared or not, however, he had a feeling that Pyro was going to put forth his all today, just like he had last time. Hell, Pyro may even save this game for them today.   
Shaking the thoughts away for the time being he readied himself as the countdown began, making a mental note to watch Pyro’s back during the mission, just in case. 

*.-.-.-.-.-.-.*

“Ah, mon amie. Are you prepared for ze battle?” Spy greeted as he approached me. His voice almost seemed to have a hint of concern in it.   
I nodded in response. Spy smirked at the nod. 

“Oh and remember ze plan. Meet at their spawn right after we have ze second intelligence. I’ll come for you if we decide to do it sooner in order to save ze mission.” Spy explained. 

I nodded to him again as the countdown began. He pulled out his knife, flipping it open and cloaked. 

I glanced at Soldier as he turned away from me. I had noticed him watching me for a bit while Spy was talking. Why was he watching me? Does he think I’m going to mess up today? Wait… What if I do mess up? What if I get put face to face with Blu Spy? Will I be able to protect myself this time?

“3…, 2…, 1!” The Administrator’s voice echoed in the spawn as the doors opened. 

Scout was the first out of course, quickly followed by the rest of us. I shook the thoughts and worries from my head as I ran alongside Soldier, out to the bridge. 7 of us rushed out, leaving Sniper and Engi to protect the base. 

“After you, Pyro!” Soldier called out. 

I smirked under my mask, taking the lead. Their Heavy-Medic team was my first priority, so I headed for them first. With Soldier right behind me, I jumped between the two; he began work on the Heavy while I started torching their Medic. I’m not going to lie, his screams from being burned to death amused me and I laughed. 

Once the Medic was pretty well barbequed I turned to the Heavy. Already, Soldier looked pretty beat up from fighting him. We had to get that Heavy down fast or it was over for Soldier. I switched my flamethrower out for my ax. 

“Herr Heavy! Watch out!” The Red Medic warned right before falling to the ground, dead. Once again I giggled at the pleasant sound of their Medic’s scream right before he died.   
“Huh? MEDIC!” The Red Heavy yelled as he turned to see his own Medic lying on the ground, burned to a crisp. 

He glared at me, yelling the mother of all battle cries and I heard the sound of his gun a starting up. I realized I’d be dead in a matter of seconds after that thing started spraying bullets, so I jumped up and brought my ax down on him. I was aiming for his head but the big guy moved just slightly and it ended up deep in his shoulder, splitting whatever bones and muscles he had there. 

I giggled again, amused by the fire that engulfed the Heavy from my ax. His screams were louder than that of his Medic. I screamed out as I felt jolts of pain all around my lower body. His gun was still going and spraying bullets but the second, he was determined to kill one of us. 

The oncoming pain didn’t last long though. Not long after my ax sliced his shoulder and set him ablaze, the Heavy’s body exploded into pieces. I looked up at Soldier and found the biggest smile on his face that I’ve seen since I’d been here and the smoke from his rocket launcher told me he was the one who had just taken out the Heavy.   
“Medic!” I yelled out in pain. 

Soldier jumped up, looking around. He growled and took a shot at the incoming Pyro, switching his beloved rocket launcher out for his shot gun. The Pyro managed to set him on fire before a shot to the face. I dropped my ax, grabbing my flamethrower and put him out with an air blast before the flames could affect him anymore. 

“Thanks!” I heard Soldier say before I felt a sharp pain in my back and my world went black. 

“Damnit!” I growled blinking at the bright lights of the respawn. I was the first on the team to die and it pissed me off. 

“Damn Demos!” a gruff voice growled at my side. I looked over at Soldier whose face was red with anger. He turned to me and smirked. 

“C’mon Pryo, let’s go get revenge on that Scottish bastard!”

*.-.-.-.-.-.-.*

Soldier stayed pretty close to me for most of the battle, which actually worked out well considering that if I could set the enemy on fire and let them burn for a bit he could finish them off with a Rocket or two. I watched his back and I assume he was watching mine. No sign of Blu Spy as of yet, which bugged me as he should have turned up at least once already, especially since we had two cases now. 

As Scout captured the second case Heavy and Medic ran by Soldier and I into the Blu base. I grabbed the enemy Scout by the shoulder and blood splattered on my suit and mask as I rammed my ax into the his head.

“Pyro! Is time!” Heavy called out as he passed by. 

Soldier turned to me with a questioning look. 

“Time for what, maggot?” 

I chuckled, ripping my ax out of the Scout’s head and letting him go. His limp dead body fell to the ground with a loud “thump.” I pointed to Soldier and then to the ground, telling him to stay here and ran off. 

I followed Heavy and Medic up to the Blu Spawn’s main door where Spy was already waiting. He slammed his knife into the Blu Sniper’s back and pulled it back out, letting the Sniper’s body fall to the ground. 

“Bonjour.” Spy smiled. 

The next few minutes were consisted of me setting everybody that came out of the spawn on fire while Spy, Medic, and Heavy finished them off. The floor was quite literally a pool of blood at this point. Medic informed us long ago that he was fully charged and ready to uber. I smiled as Scout rushed by us to get the case. 

When we hadn’t seen the enemy Heavy or the Medic for a while I backed up towards Medic and prepared to run. Suddenly the spawn door quit opening for a few seconds. We knew what was coming. Spy cloaked right as the Heavy and the Medic came out, uber-charged and ready to kill. Medic ubered Heavy and I ran behind them using them as a shield as the 3 of us ran away. Naturally I got ahead of them as I was faster than Heavy. 

Right as I was about to exit the base however, I was grabbed and pulled into a room. Once let go I turned to see none other than Blu Spy. As if on instinct replaced my flamethrower with my ax and swung at him. He smirked, grabbing my hand and stopping the attack. 

“Someone looks mad.” He taunted. 

“Medic, help me…” I said hoping he’d come for me. Fear traced my voice as I spoke. I was scared. It hadn’t hit me until just now and the fear was clouding my mind.   
What was it Soldier told me to do if he was in front of me? I couldn’t remember I was too scared to think. I could feel sweat crawling down my face as he stared into my mask, smirking at me. He knew he scared me. He knew he had me. 

“Come let’s go somewhere where we won’t be interrupted.” 

*.-.-.-.-.-.-.*

Medic breathed out as he and Heavy had just made it out of the base and back to the bridge where Soldier. Demo and Sniper held the blu’s off for a bit. Spy decloaked next to him as he looked around for his fiery friend. 

“Where’s Pyro?” Spy asked. 

Medic stopped as he heard Pyro’s voice in the earpiece, small and fragile, but most of all it was scared. Worry filled him as the words “help me” came through.   
“In trouble.” Medic frowned, looking around trying to find a clue as to where she may be. He had no such luck. 

Scout ran over to the two, yelling about how he was going to “bash that frenchie’s brain’s out.” 

“Scout, vat happened?” Medic asked. 

“Their freaking Spy backstabbed me!” he yelled. 

Medic and Spy looked at each other and nodded. 

“Heavy go with Scout. Get ze intelligence.” Spy ordered. 

Heavy nodded and ran with Scout back into the Blu base. Meanwhile Medic took Spy to where he found Pyro the first day and they looked around there. Medic cringed as he heard Pyro grunting. She was fighting back, however from the small whines that she made the Spy was fighting back and managing to overpower her. He could hear the frenchman’s voice but he couldn’t make out what he was saying. 

“Ve need to hurry.” Medic called to Spy. 

Spy nodded. He was just as concerned as Medic was; Pyro had become one of his favorite teammates, mainly because the fire lover enjoyed torturing Scout just as much as he did but also because there was something interesting about the man that made him different from the others. 

Medic stopped. He heard the Spy’s laughs from a doorway. When he ran over to it he found that it was the hall that leads down into the sewers. He remembered that last time Pyro’s arm was wet and infected from the sewer water and charged down. Spy, noticing Medic’s frantic state, followed him.

At the bottom of the stairs they found the two mercenaries fighting on the back platform. Pyro getting a few good punches in, but Spy was returning them. They watched as the Blu Spy punched Pyro hard in the stomach and pinned her to the wall. He pulled out his knife and raised it, ready to strike her. 

Medic growled as spy cloaked. Enough was enough. 

*.-.-.-.-.-.-.*

Tears ran down my face as I watched the Blu Spy raise his knife. My stomach hurt, but not as bad as it did when he had cut it open the last time. I’d pray for him to kill me but I knew better. For some reason he found pleasure in torturing me. I tried to fight back and I even managed to break his nose because I remembered how Soldier taught me to do it, but I couldn’t stop him. He was stronger than I was and now he had me pinned. I couldn’t push him off. 

It made me happier, however, knowing that he was in pain. Blood had soaked through his mask from his nose bleed and the bruise forming around his nose could be seen just under his eyes. He’d be feeling that broken nose for a while. 

“I think it’s time I took you back down a size.” The Spy growled. 

The next few seconds were a blur to me. Right as the Spy’s knife was about to penetrate my chest, Medic grabbed his arm and bent it in the most inhuman way. He had broken the Spy’s elbow so that his arm was bent backwards. The French man screamed out in pain as I fell to the floor, I wanted to grab my stomach and just curl up on the floor, but I pushed myself back up grabbing my ax. 

Medic flung the Blu man towards a wall where another pained scream came from him before his body collapsed on the floor with a hole in his back. 

“We have captured the enemy’s intelligence. Victory.”


	8. Hot Water

I stared at the dead body, petrified. This wasn’t good. I had to be saved, the blu Spy got me again. I could’ve been hurt, worse, Medic or Spy could’ve been hurt in the process of saving me. I put their lives in danger. How could I let this happen again? I felt a lone tear crawl down my cheek as I continued to stare at the lifeless body. 

*.-.-.-.-.-.-.*

Medic glared at the lifeless body of the spy. Unfortunately, he was killed before the end of the mission and will be respawned, which means, they still have a problem. He turned away though, focusing all of his attention onto Pyro. 

“Pyro, does anything hurt?” Medic asked, concerned. She shook her head. 

“My stomach hurts a bit, but don’t worry about it.” He heard through the ear-piece. He rushed over to her, gently pressing on her stomach through the suit, for any abnormalities, just in case. 

“Is she okay?” Spy asked approaching the two. Medic and Pyro both turned to him, with questioning looks. Spy shook his head.

“I will explain later and your secret is safe with me, but are you okay, Pyro?” Spy asked, slight concern laced into his words. The fire lover nodded to him then turned, looking down the tunnel as footsteps splashing in the water could be heard approaching them. 

*.-.-.-.-.-.-.*

“Maggots! What’s going on here?” I flinched as Soldier’s voice boomed throughout the tunnels. Why did he have to yell so much all the time? We’re right here it’s not like he’s on the other side of the arena. 

“It seems my Blu counter-part has gotten in ze way again.” Spy noted, looking at the collapsed, lifeless body of the Blu Spy. Soldier looked at the body for a few seconds before turning to me. Uh-oh. 

“How could you let that, french-filth, get the better of you again, maggot?!” Soldier screamed, his anger evident in his voice. I flinched and took a step back away from him. Oh boy, here we go. I felt like I was back to square-one with Soldier. I immediately felt intimidated by him again and I couldn’t even give him an answer. I just turned my head towards the floor slightly. 

“Actually, herr Pyro vas putting up a pretty gut fight. Even managed to break ze Spy’s nose and get a few gut punches in.” Medic noted stepping forward. Spy nodded in agreement. 

“I believe zat Pyro vould be able to hold his own after a bit more training, herr Soldier.” Medic added. Soldier calmed and straightened his back. 

“I see. In that case, Pyro, today instead of going to your room and resting, you will come start your training with me. As soon as Medic releases you, you WILL report to behind the fort for your training. Do you understand that?” Soldier ordered, his voice slightly quieter and less angry. 

I nodded and saluted him. After Soldier returned the salute he turned on his heal and took his leave. Medic grabbed my arm and gently tugged on it. 

“Come Pyro. I vant to give you a quick check-up.” Medic stated, tugging me along. I nodded and followed him. However I stopped Medic in front of Spy. I tugged on the masked man’s arm, wanting him to come with us. I had a few questions for him, like how did he learn about my gender and why hasn’t he told the others yet. 

Spy seemed to understand and nodded, following us back to the infirmary. 

*.-.-.-.-.-.-.*

The second Medic has closed and locked the door behind us, I ripped off my mask, tossing it on to the counter. Spy didn’t flitch as my attention focused onto him.   
“I suppose you want to know how I discovered you’re not a man.” Spy assumed. I nodded. 

“That would actually be very nice to know. What are you doing? Spying on me in my room?” I questioned. Medic chuckled a bit, changing out his gloves. Spy joined in on the chuckling before answering me. 

“Not quite, ma Ami.” He started, calming his laughter. “As the Spy, it’s my duty to know all about not only my enemies, but my allies as well. Of course, after Soldier told us about your performance last mission, I wanted to find out all I could about you. However, while going through your files, I noticed ze place left for your gender was blank. Naturally, I was curious. I decided to check on you while you were recovering, despite Medic’s wishes to leave you be. I wanted to know why they neglected to give your information on your gender. Needless to say, after seeing your face, it didn’t take me long to understand ze answer to that.” 

I frowned a tiny bit at Spy as he explained. 

“You mean. You came in here while I was unconscious, unable to move, and alone to check on my gender???” I questioned, getting angrier by the second. Medic moved, between Spy and I low enough to lift me up on to the operating table. 

“Zat iz a bit, uh, questionable, herr Spy.” Medic noted, unzipping my suit. He began looking over my body for abnormalities.

“Oh please. As if I would do sometzing.” Spy scoffed. I watched him roll his eyes. 

“Don’t you roll your eyes at me Spy! I just met you not to long ago, I don’t know you enough to tell what your intentions are. I have a right to be mad!” I growled. Medic chuckled at my anger again. 

“What are you laughing at?” I questioned, letting subtle anger drip off my words for the Medic. 

“Notzing, frauline. You are just zo cute ven you are mad.” Medic teased with a grin. I rolled my eyes at him and shook my head with a small grin on my face. Spy cleared his throat, attempting to get my attention again. 

“Ma ami, I azure you I have no intentions of anything so primal. I would atleast take you to dinner first.” Spy explained, smirking. “By ze way, are you free tomorrow night?”   
I laughed at his joke and my anger melted away. I guess I should be more trusting of the guy.

After several minutes of conversation with Spy about the outside side world as I last saw it while Medic checked me over, Medic stood straight and removed his gloves. 

“You look fine to me frauline.” Medic declared, a soft smile on his lips. He watched has a hopped off the table and stretched. Then I turned to look at my reflection in the glass of one of Medic’s cabinets. I looked so small and frail compared to the two men. I sighed at this, but then remembered the brutal training Soldier had waiting for me.

“Soldier is pretty mad, huh?” I said softly, letting the disappointment I had for myself linger in my words. Medic and Spy both felt their shoulders drop a bit when they heard this.   
“Herr Soldier iz complicated Frauline.” Medic started. 

“He’s always angry, ma ami. Don’t take it to heart.” Spy added. I sighed, continuing to stare at our reflections in the glass. 

“I’m not going to survive his training.” I huffed as I finally turned away from the glass to look at my teammates. Medic offered me a soft smile and tossed me my helmet. 

“Nein. You vill Frauline.” Medic assured. 

“I agree, with ze german. You will survive. As long as you don’t cry, you’ll do better than Scout did.” Spy joked. I chuckled at the Frenchman. 

“Well. I can’t be beaten by Scout. That would bring me great dishonor.” I grinned. I then slid my helmet on and zipped up my suit. I offered the two men a thumbs up before jogging out of the infirmary. 

*.-.-.-.-.-.-.*

Medic frowned after the Pryo had left his watchful eye. 

“You vill tell no von, yes?” The german shot the question of the Frenchman with a low threatening voice. 

“But of course. I have no reason to tell any one of those buffoons anything. Her secret will remain safe with me. However, I am concerned about zis Blu Spy business.” Spy’s words were low and soft, but his anger at the Blu Spy’s actions was clearly strew throughout his words. 

Medic gave the man a sideways glance. The Frenchman was right to be concerned. The whole blu spy deal was getting out of hand. Blu Spies have always been troublesome but the last 3 have caused a great deal of hardships and death to the red team. They’ve lost 2 outstanding Pyros to the Blu assassins, and were now working on the third. It wasn’t right. The first was seemingly an accident. A simple malfunction with the respawn mechanics, but that Blu Spy had been picking on their Pyro for months, so the Administrator took no chances and fired him. The second incident was no accident and that Spy was terminated for the actual killing of the Red Pyro. Now the third Blu Frenchman was threatening their new Pyro and Red team’s patience is running thin. 

The Red team didn’t have to tell each other how they fell, they all knew. They were tired of the death and loss of good teammates and friends. There was a reason behind their deaths. The Red team knew that much, but they weren’t sure what the exact reason was. 

Medic narrowed his eyes at the infirmary door. 

“Vill you assist in keeping an eye on her?” Medic asked slowly, turning to the Frenchman. Spy thought for a moment, staring blankly at the door himself before turning to Medic.   
When the two men locked eyes, they knew at that moment that neither of them was willing to lose another comrade. 

“Of course, mon ami.” 

Their Pyro would not die, not by the hands of the Blu Spy. 

The two would get to the bottom of this before that happens. 

*.-.-.-.-.-.-.*

After probably 15 or 20 minutes of trying to get find my way around the base, I found myself stepping out into the hot dry desert air. They really couldn’t have picked a better place for a base? 

“MAGGOT. OVER HERE.” Soldier’s voice boomed. I wasted no time in running to the man.

I took in the scenery before me. The area around the fort was nothing but a bunch of sand and rock. A few cacti were strewn around the dry environment, but they were few and far between. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, leaving it a beautiful shade of blue. However, that also meant that the sun was beating down hard on the land without obstruction and boy was it ever hot. There was no civilization in sight. We were alone out here, except for the Blue base, which was right across the way and down the road a bit from ours. You’d think there would be more trouble between the two teams on off duty hours, but it seems that no one really wants the risk of not coming out of a fight here, so we keep to ourselves. 

“IT’S ABOUT TIME, MAGGOT.” Soldier’s voice was loud and stern as I stood before him. I saluted the man and he returned the gesture. We both returned to our normal stance and I awaited orders. 

Soldier was standing in front of a large obstacle course. One so large that I couldn’t really see what all was included in it. From what I could see however, it looked to be a basic military course set up. The tire walk thing, the big ass wall I’d have to somehow climb over, barbed wire crawl, some hurdles, and a lot more. There was also a flattened track like course that looks like it would be used for running laps. 

“Alright Soldier, you’re here today because I will NOT have MY MEN be weaker than the other team, that’s just not going to happen. Not on my watch.” The military man began, his voice slightly quieter. The bulking man bent down to look me in the eyes, or try to, but I swear it was like he could see right through my mask. 

“Are you ready, Maggot?” Soldier questioned. I nodded quickly. 

“Good! Now drop and give me 50! MOVE IT.” I dropped to the ground and began pushing myself to do the number of push-ups the man asked of me. His loud voice yelling every number as I did them. 

*.-.-.-.-.-.-.*

Soldier watched the fire lover in front of him move up and down with every push up. The man had done about 80 of them or so. Soldier had “accidently” lost count and made the man restart his push- up count a number of times. He would make his teammate stronger. Soldier would not lose another good man to the Blus. He just wouldn’t do it and any man who could muster the strength that this Pyro did, was a man worthy of protecting in Soldier’s eyes. 

“48! … 49… 50! Good Work Soldier! Now 20 times around the track! Move it!” Soldier ordered as he watched Pyro struggled to his feet. The suited man did not argue and just did as he was told as he jogged his way to the track and began his 20 laps. 

Soldier kept a straight face, but on the inside, he was smiling. He was impressed with the Pyro. He didn’t argue, cry, or complain, nor did he remove his suit for the training. The man had guts and Soldier respected him for that. 

Soldier’s pleasant mood slowly krept into a sour one as he remembered that the fire user did allow himself to be captured by that Blu French-bastard twice in a row now. The man had to learn how to protect himself and he couldn’t do that until he got stronger. 

Soldier forced himself to relax, however. It was not solely Pyro’s fault that he’d been captured and tortured by the Blu Frenchman. This had been going on long before the fire lover came along. Soldier was furious at the Blu Spy, him and the two he replaced before him. They’d killed and tortured 3 very fine comrades and Soldier had had enough. He would ensure the safety of his teammates this time. 

Soldier glared as he watched Pyro on the other end of the track. The man had paused and lifted his mask enough so that he could puke on the side of the track. He spit and pulled his mask back over his mouth and continued running. Pyro would do this 3 more times before he finished his run as Soldier continued adding laps to his time. 

Soldier was waiting for Pyro to crack. He was waiting for the man to beg him to stop. He was waiting for the tears and complaining. He was waiting for the fire lover to finally break just like all the others on the team had, but… It never happened. 

Pyro never complained. Pyro never begged for a break. Pyro never shed a tear, only sweat, at Soldier’s orders. Pyro only did as he was told without so much as a grunt of discomfort. 

Soldier allowed a small smile to cross his face as Pyro rounded the track for the 40th time and stopped in front of him. He could hear the heavy breathing of someone who desperately needed a break, but there was no complaint. Pyro was a good man and he would make a fine member of the team. 

Soldier knew in that moment that he would stop at nothing to make sure Pyro could handle himself out there. Soldier would not lose another comrade. Especially not one as good as Pyro. 

“Pyro, son, you’re dismissed.”


	9. Ring of Fire

It had been quiet in the base for the last couple of weeks, well besides the backyard area. Soldier had been drilling me, pushing me through obstacle courses and just dragging me through hell and back. He wasn't a fan of giving breaks either, but I knew better than to complain. Complaining only made Soldier angry and when Soldier was angry, that meant more work for me. 

However, all this training was starting to take its toll on my body. I was exhausted and all I wanted to do was lay in my bed and sleep for a couple of days. Medic had said that Soldier was being too hard on me, but I don't think so. Anything that Soldier could do, I could do and I had seen Soldier run that course a million times while I was away. He didn't even break a sweat. I wanted to be able to do that.

I wanted to be able to move maneuver battlefields 20 times over and not be tired afterwards. I also wanted to be able to snap that stupid Frenchie’s neck the next time he tried to pull something on me. I wanted to feel like I truly belonged here. 

Missions lately have been rather uneventful. Blu Spy has kept his distance and I’ve stayed close to Soldier, Heavy and Medic. Soldier uses the missions as another training exercise for me. Throughout the entire mission, he yells and directs me in maneuvers that would help me when I’m on my own. My training never stops with Soldier, which I have to say, is not necessarily bad. I appreciate everything he’s doing for me. 

Spy has also been teaching me about everything he can about the Blu Spy from his fighting style, to the items he uses. I found out recently that Blu Spy had used an item called a “Dead Ringer” in my first mission in order to trick me into believing he had died. It allowed me to let my guard down enough for him to surprise me in the sewer. He told me I can try to avoid that happening again by using my flamethrower on the surrounding area of where he died in case he’s still alive. I had done this several times after believing I had killed the Frenchman and I found that it’s effective. 

I was learning, but I was still not like the rest of my teammates. They are still far better than I. 

“Alright Maggot. You’re dismissed for the day. Rest up and get ready for our mission tomorrow.” Soldier growled as the sun started setting for the day. We had done a mission of Capture Points earlier today and Soldier had gone down one too many times for his liking. He was stressed and exhausted. 

I jogged up the ex-military man from the end of the obstacle course. I had gotten pretty good at it, except for the wall. I could not pull myself over it quick enough for Soldier’s liking. He frowned at me and waved me off. I allowed myself to sigh as I walked away from him. Normally I got some kind of praise or criticism from the man, but he hadn’t done that the last few days. 

*.-.-.-.-.-.-.*

Medic closed the door to the infirmary, having put a do not disturb type sign on it so Pryo could remove her mask freely. 

“He’s giving up on me Medic.” The small woman said tiredly as she removed her mask. The German frowned as he made his way over to the fire-lover. 

“Vat makes you say zat, Frauline?” Medic asked as he looked the small woman over. She was building decent muscle now, no doubt about that. She was not the same fragile thing that had been lying in an unconscious pile after the first mission. Now, she was a strong and powerful threat to the other team. She could easily overpower the enemy Scout and Engi in hand to hand combat, but she had to continue this progress if she wanted to handle the Blu Spy on her own. He also noticed, however, that her progress had come at a cost. She now bore large dark circles under her eyes and was missing that skip in her step that she once had before the start of the training. Her skin had grown paler and her loss of appetite from the exhaustion was starting to show in her form as well. Medic was worried about his teammate. 

“He’s not praising or criticizing me anymore. He just gives me a frown and waves me off… What am I doing wrong?” She huffed, pulling herself up onto the table with ease. She laid on her stomach and rested her head on her folded arms. 

“You’re not progressing as fast as he wants, ma ami. Don’t take it too hard. He still doesn’t believe Scout should even be here.” Spy chimed in, strolling into the infirmary like he owned the place. He’d done this multiple times. Normally he does it to get away from Scout, other times, he just does so to enjoy Pyro’s company. Medic wished he would at least knock before allowing himself in. 

Medic watched the Frenchman lean on the counter next to him and focus his attention on putting out his lit cigarette, knowing Medic disapproved of the habit in the infirmary. Pyro turned her head in her arms to face the two with tired eyes. 

“Ja. Spy iz correct, but you are alzo not taking care of yourself.” Medic pointed out, his words hinting at his concern. 

“I’m trying Medic, but I can only sleep when Soldier lets me, but I think he’s going to let me sleep all night tonight.” Pyro said with a yawn, her tired words crawling from her lips. She focused her attention on Spy, then. 

“What can I do to increase my progress? I’m giving it my all now. I don’t think my muscles have stopped hurting in weeks. I don’t think I can push myself any harder, Spy.” Pyro asked, annoyed. 

“If that is ze case, nothing. Not many impress Soldier.” Spy’s words were blunt and to the point, but his words only made Pyro pout and groan in anger. 

“I guess I’ll have to find a way to make him see how hard I’m working… somehow.” Pyro sighed, before brightening up a bit at what she was about to say. “So tell me about the mission tomorrow! I heard it’s something new! Well… new for me anyway.” 

“Ja, It iz called King of ze Hill…”Medic started. Pyro lifted her head and sat up on the table, listening intently to everything Medic and Spy could tell them about the goals and her job of the mission tomorrow. 

*.-.-.-.-.-.-.*

The alarm was like fingernails on a chalkboard to me as it rang through my ears the next morning. I groaned and slammed my hand on clock, somehow managing to turn it off. I pulled myself from bed and got ready. My entire body was stiff, I was still exhausted and just moving a tiny bit hurt. All of my muscles felt as though they had been ripped apart and sewn back together 20 times over. 

After pulling on my mask, zipping up my suit and strapping my ax to my back I looked to the box sitting on my dresser. The Administrator had given me another weapon few days ago, but I have yet to look at it. I guess today was as good as ever to try whatever it was out. 

I grabbed the box and opened it, only to find what looked to be a flare gun of some sort and a letter. 

"Pyro, I know you’ve been training with Soldier, and it’s paying off. Keep at it. You’re turning out to be the Pyro I expected you to be. This weapon is called a Scorch Shot, use it well. I do hope to continue to be pleased with your work. Do not disappoint me. -The Administrator"

I smiled at the note. I was glad to have been getting some sort of praise from somewhere. I tossed the note aside and removed the Scorch Shot from the box and looked it over. Seemed like a decent enough weapon. I strapped it into my belt and picked up my flamethrower, heading out. 

When I finally made my way into the spawn room I found that all my teammates had beat me there. 

“Medic, can you hear me?” I asked, speaking into the microphone and looking at the doctor. He turned to me and gave me a small nod. I returned the motion before pulling myself over to the door, patiently waiting for the game to start. 

“Pyro. You’re on your own today. Don’t disappoint me.” A gruff voice called behind me. I knew who it was. I turned to the man anyway, his helmet covering his eyes as always. I waved to him and offered a nod. He merely grunted and continued wiping down his Rocket launcher. I returned my attention to the door. 

“Of course he decides today that he wants me on my own, now that I can barely move.” I growled. I heard Medic chuckle slightly. I’m glad he thinks it’s funny. 

“Mission starts in 10 seconds!” The Administrator’s voice echoed through the room. I lit the flame on my flamethrower and adjusted my ax on my back. I heard the others shuffling behind me as we readied ourselves for the mission. 

“5… 4… 3… 2… 1! Go!” the door burst open and I was out first, taking an immediate left, soon passed by Scout. This place looked familiar, but I know I hadn’t been here before. The arena seemed to be in the middle of a forest, there was a waterfall directly to the left of our spawn and there were wooden buildings everywhere. 

I should learn the map, but sense this was King of the Hill, I only needed to know where the point was for the moment. I followed Scout, he seemed to know exactly where he should be going. I watched as he ran into the large building, which I assume to be the middle of the arena. I quickly followed suit. 

The second I reached the opening of the building I stopped dead in my tracks. The giant saws roared with life as they moved back and forth. This wasn’t just any arena. This was Sawmill. This is where the Pyro before me was murdered. 

*.-.-.-.-.-.-.* 

Medic frowned as he approached Pyro. The girl had stopped right in front of the entrance, but why? He pushed her behind a stack of wood and watched as an angry Soldier glared at the two in passing. 

“Pyro, vat iz vrong?” Medic asked, concerned for his friend. 

“Medic…” He heard through the earpiece. “I can’t do this! This is where the last Pyro was murdered! What if that happens to me?” Pyro’s words were dripping in fear, the girl was terrified and Medic felt bad for her. He had not realized she knew this is where the previous Pyro had met his end or he would have warned her sooner. 

“Nein, Frauline, you vill be fine. I promise. But herr Soldier will be furious if you do not fight!” Medic reminded. Pyro stood still for a few moments, probably thinking. 

“Okay… Okay. You’re right. I can do this…” Pryo’s voice was still full of fear and Medic could tell that she was hesitant. 

“I vill be right here. Just yell if you need me.” Medic assured. Pyro nodded. 

“Thanks Medic.” She said before running into the battle. Medic watched her, before looking around to assess the situation at hand. Scout had captured the point successfully and it was Red team’s for the time being. There was still plenty of time for that to change, however. 

“MEDIC!” Heavy’s voice boomed. Medic sighed, of course it was Heavy. It was always Heavy.


	10. Playing with Fire

Miss. Pauling flinched as the Administrator slammed her fists on the desk. The old woman’s eyes were wide with an intense anger. They darted across the screens in front of her as she looked over each one, hoping that somehow, this was a mistake. 

“Miss Pauling!” Miss Pauling jumped a little at the old woman’s cross voice. “I believe I said that this arena was NEVER to be used again.” 

“You did say that.” Miss Pauling replied, her voice calm. 

“Then why am I seeing it on my screen and why are my mercenaries currently at war in this arena?” The Administrator questioned, turning to her assistant. Miss Pauling was in charge of ensuring the arena was closed off. Miss Pauling picked up her clipboard from the desk, looking it over. 

“I had checked it off as done. There must be something wrong in the Spawn-teleport system. A glitch most likely. I will look into this right away, ma’am.” Miss Pauling explained, her voice trembling a bit. She was terrified of the Administrator when she was angry. 

“Do that and DON’T let this happen again. I’m canceling the mission.” The Administrator hissed. She went to make the announcement when Miss Pauling grabbed her arm. 

“Ma’am you can’t do that! If you cancel the mission and they try to use the teleport system to get back to their bases, they could get teleported anywhere. Not to mention, if there’s a glitch in the system then it could shut down at any moment. If anyone gets trapped in the teleport when it shuts down, they’ll be gone forever. You HAVE to keep the mission going, it’s best not to worry them.” Miss Pauling explained, her words frantic. The Administrator pulled her arm from Miss. Pauling’s grasp and glared at her for several seconds. 

“Fine. I want that system fixed, Miss Pauling. Make it fast.” The old woman hissed, turning back to the screens in front of her. Miss Pauling let out a sigh of relief. 

“I’ll have it back up as fast as I can!” The younger woman called as she ran off to fix the glitch. 

The Administrator gave Miss Pauling a sideways glance as she ran off. She pulled out a cigarette, placing the cancer stick between her two lips. She watched the screens, paying close attention to the fire-lover, curious as to how she would perform in these circumstances.

*.-.-.-.-.-.-.*

I stood on the point with Scout, torching blue members that managed to get close and airblasting any rockets from the other team’s Soldier that I could. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t scared. In fact, I’m terrified. We were only a couple of minutes into the mission and I’m noticeably slacking. My movements were slowed and I wasn’t concentrating. I know that I should be focused and moving around more to help protect and secure the point, but every time I get close to one of the saws, all I can think about is the previous Pyro being sawed in half and I freeze up. 

The part that scares me the most, Blu Spy was nowhere in sight and as far as I could tell no one on Red had seen him either. Blu Spy has had it out for me ever since I broke his nose during our last private encounter in Teufort and the fact that I hadn’t seen him, concerned me. But, I know he’s here. He’s watching and I’m positive that he knows I’m on edge. 

It was hard for me to resist the urge to run to Soldier, Medic or Spy’s side. I wanted nothing more than to know one of them had my back no matter what, but I couldn’t. Soldier wanted me to be on my own for this mission and I was determined not to let him down, no matter my fear. 

“Mumbles, look out!” Scout called, while beating the enemy Medic over the head with his bat. I snapped to my senses as the Medic dropped to the ground with a large bat shaped indent in his skull. I was so lost in thought that I was almost gutted by the Blu Medic…

“Yo, knucklehead! Mind joining us here on the battlefield? Let’s go!” Scouts angry words hit me like a brick. He was right. I needed to get my head in the game. I’d done plenty of training with Soldier, I had no reason to be scared. When and if Blu Spy showed up, I would be ready for him. Even as I let that thought go through my mind, I knew that the fear would remain in the back of my head, no matter what kind of front I put on.

I looked to Scout, he was glaring hard at me. I nodded to him and waved my thank you. When he nodded back and returned to beating the other team with his bat, I turned to the Blu Demo and secured my flamethrower on my back, replacing it with my Scorch shot. The Scotsman was setting down sticky bombs near the point. This was mostly meant to remove Scout or myself from the point. Somehow Scout and I had maintained the point and anyone who got within 2 feet of it, had been killed. However, the Blu cyclops was now trying to end that. I smirked, not today. 

I flicked my Scorch shot in the Demo’s direction and pulled the trigger, sending a flare directly at the man’s chest. When the flare hit, he burst into a beautiful fiery display of red and orange. I chuckled as the Scotsman’s shock caused him to set off his bombs too early, ridding Scout and me of the trap. I allowed myself to watch the Blu Demo scurry around yelling in pain for a few moments more before switching back to my flamethrower and turning to find my next target. 

*.-.-.-.-.-.-.*

The Blu Spy let a slow grin spread across his face. He’d been hiding, invisible and out of the way for the entire mission. He watched his favorite fire lover run around, avoiding the saws. He picked out the Pyro’s fear the moment he stepped into the Spy’s view. He knew about the footage of the last Pyro and how the fire retardant man had watched it play over several times. He knew that the Pyro was terrified that he would end up in the same position. He knew Pyro was looking for him and he knew that Pyro knew he was watching.

The Blu Spy enjoyed watching Pyro for every second that he did. Each little cautious glance the Pyro made over his shoulder, each Spy check on his teammate and each time he’d freeze up when moving too close to the saw filled the Blu Frenchman with joy. Watching the man be so distracted and scared was a treat for the Frenchie. The fire user’s fear would make Frenchman’s job easier. 

Spy was waiting for the perfect moment, for the Pryo’s fear to be at his highest and for him to be the most distracted. That’s when he would make his move. This wasn’t just a revenge tactic to get back at the man for breaking his nose, but a plan to help his team win. Blu team had been losing too much for the Spy’s liking and the Pyro had gained too much popularity amongst his team. Blu Spy wanted to make the fire lover’s life as hard as possible and what other way to do that than to make the Pyro look bad? 

Spy chuckled as he watched the Red Pyro and Scout explode into pieces after finally taking a hit from the Blu Soldier. Once those two were out of the way, the Blu Scout had no problem securing the point for Blu. This, made things interesting. The Pyro would now have to run back through another Saw to get back to the point and all Blu team had to do was keep the point for 3 minutes. Blu Spy let a slow, evil grin spread across his features. 

That was easy. 

*.-.-.-.-.-.-.*

“The Enemy has captured the point!” Soldier grimaced at the Administrator’s urgent voice. As if the woman actually cared about who had the point.

Truth be told, Soldier was irritated. No, he was furious actually. Furious, because Pyro was slacking. Soldier knew that Pyro wasn’t at his best, and that angered Soldier more than anything. Even Scout had shown to be more focused during the mission and that was saying something. Soldier couldn’t understand why now of all times Pyro had decided to be so distracted. If he kept that up, he would lose the mission for the team. 

Soldier pushed the thoughts from his mind, making a mental note to discipline the fire lover later. He along with Demoman moved to retake the point before the other team had a chance to further secure it. After a few moments he noticed the fire user standing frozen in front of one of the saws. Soldier growled under his breath and fired another Rocket at the incoming Heavy-Medic team. He and Demo were attempting to hold the point long enough for Scout to get back on it, but every time the city boy got close to the point, he was annihilated on the spot. Pyro needed to be on the point with Scout, helping him and watching his back, but instead he was just standing there in front of the saws.

“Pyro! Get on this point! Now Maggot!” Soldier called to the freshly spawned Pyro. This seemed to snap the Pyro out of his daze as the masked man turned to Soldier. 

“I want you on this point!” Soldier ordered. Pyro, after a few hesitant seconds, passed by the saw and made his way to the point. From there the man seemed to get back into the fighting spirit, setting the Blu team a flame while Soldier and Demo finished them off. When Scout finally got back, Pyro went to the defensive, trying to hold off any attacks pushed on to Scout. Now that Scout was back and Pyro was helping him, Soldier could focus on helping to defend Engie while he rebuilt his sentry. 1 minute left before the Blu’s would win. 

“Spy’s sappin’ my sentry!” The engineer’s angered tone grabbed Soldier’s attention. As the war veteran turned to help his hard-hatted friend, he saw the small man lying on the floor with a gaping hole in his back. 

“Boys! We got a Sp-…!” Soldier began to yell, only to be cut off by a sharp pain in his own back and the silence that came with death.

*.-.-.-.-.-.-.*

I raced around Scout, the two of us protecting each other’s backs to the best of our ability. Every time we started to take back the point, a Blu would get on the point and block us from doing so. 45 seconds to go. We needed to take the point back. 

“Aye, yo, Mumbles! Get the Medic!” Scout called, pointing to the left of me. I followed his gesture and found myself face to face with the Blu Medic and their Sniper. 

“G’day mate!” The Sniper grinned, aiming his SMG at me. Without a second thought I reached for my ax and threw it at the Medic, burying it deep into the German’s skull. The Sniper, now less confident, growled and began firing. Scout hopped over me, firing several bullets from his pistol into the Sniper’s skull. 

“Look at you! You’re terrible!” Scout shouted triumphantly at the Australian’s corpse. After boasting about his kill, Scout withdrew my ax from the Medic’s body and tossed it to me. I snatched it out of the air and turned to the Blu Pyro behind us, leaving Scout to himself. We two Pyros stared at each other for a few moments before swinging our axes, clashing them together.

“Oh no you don’t!” I hissed, swinging at the Pyro again. I was not about to be killed by my opposite. The Blu fire user took the hit with a scream and swung at me in turn. I managed to duck under it before it hit me, but in turn I had to pull away from my weapon. The other masked man let a low laugh leave him as he torn my ax away from him and tossed it to the side. He began swinging his ax at me furiously. One swing after another. One of them in particular caused me to fall backwards, still, I pushed away from each swing as he backed me into a corner. When I had run out of space behind me and could no longer run away, the blu Pyro raised his ax above his head, laughing manically.

“No, I will not be taken down with my back against a wall!” I yelled. I wasn’t about to let Soldier’s training go to waste. 

I braced my hands on the floor in front of me and swung my right leg out and under the other Pryo, pulling his feet out from under him. A cry escaped him as he fell, dropping his ax. I wasted no time hopping to my feet, running for his ax. I managed to grab it before my blue counterpart could bounce back up, but when I turned to swing at him he was coming at me. He grabbed my arms and tackled me to the ground, trying to tear his ax from my hands. I fought back, not willing to loosen my grip on the weapon. 

I pushed the ax up and to the left, then I tugged hard to the right, ramming the end of the Ax’s handle into the side of the Pyro’s head. This jostled the Pyro just enough so that I could push him off of me and straddle his torso. While the man was still recuperating from the blow, I raised the ax up and brought it down hard on his head, burying the weapon within the confines of his skull. 

I stared at the bloody mess that was under me, pleased with my work. Soldier would be proud. 

“Hehe. Yeah, that’s a skull fracture for sure.” Scout’s words bounced from his mouth as he looked over my handy work. I smiled, standing up and taking my flamethrower from my back. This wasn’t over yet and I had to be ready. Scout handed me my ax and walked away. He must’ve picked it up while that Pyro and I were going at it. I took it from him, fixing it on my back. I adjusted my grip on the flamethrower and finally took a second to look around. It was just Scout and I. It was quiet. 

“Hey! Help me cap this point, would ya mumbles!” Scout called, waving from his place on the point. I smiled and made my way over to my teammate. This was almost over, just a little while longer. 

Then I heard it. The whooshing sound of a Spy de-cloaking behind me. 

*.-.-.-.-.-.-.*  
“Overtime…” The Administrator scowled as she spoke into the microphone. She was livid. This entire mission angered her to her very core. She wanted to be mad at Pyro, and she was to an extent, but at the same time, she couldn’t really blame the girl for being scared. The young girl had done relatively well under the current circumstances, but that still wasn’t enough to keep the old woman’s anger at bay. 

She glared at the screen, taking a long drag of her cigarette. The Spy was making his move and the Administrator knew it. She had known that this would happen from the very start of the mission. The Spies always knew about everything, it was part of their job. So, it wouldn’t have surprised the woman if the Blu Spy had known about Pyro’s knowledge of the previous Pyro’s demise. It also would not have surprised her if he was going to use that against the Pyro during the mission today.

Normally, the Administrator would be excited about one of the Spies doing something like this, however, recently, the Blu Spies have been rather dangerous towards Pyros. The frequent deaths were adding up to an awful lot of paper work for the old woman and it was becoming bothersome. She was curious as to why it was always the Pyros being attacked however. Why was it just the Pyro and why only the Red one?

She pushed the thoughts away for the time being as she realized the Blu Spy was at it again. She frowned at the screen, taking another drag of her cigarette. The Blu Spy had managed to push Pyro on to one side of a saw, while he remained on the other, the side with the point. He was holding Scout, with a knife against the man’s neck.   
“Pyro! Get ova’ere and help me!” the Administrator heard Scout yell, but Pyro did not budge. 

“Ah, ah, ah. One false move and you’ll turn into sawdust.” The Blu Frenchman threatened, motioning towards the saw in front of the Pyro. 

“Mumbles!” Scout called out again. Pyro just stood there staring ahead. The Blu Spy chuckled. 

The Administrator, wondering where the rest of the two teams were, scanned the other screens. She found that the Blu team was holding the rest of the Reds back at their spawn. Pyro and Scout were on their own. She returned her attention to the 3 mercenaries by the point. 

“Ma’am! I fixed the glitch. Whoever lays claim to the point next can be called as the winner now and everyone can safely return to their bases.” Miss Pauling called, running back into the room. She was coughing a bit when she approached the Administrator, watching the screens. “It’s dusty as hell in there.” 

The two women stared intently at the screen, waiting to see how things would play out. 

*.-.-.-.-.-.-.*

“Mumbles! Get over here and kill him! Take the point! Just go around the saw!” Scout yelled. I frowned. He’s right. I can just go around. Scout will be killed, but I’ll still be able to take the point. I had let this fear control me far too much during this mission, but not anymore. I adjusted my flamethrower in my grip and began my run around the saw. 

Spy smirked and in one swift move he broke Scout’s neck and ran towards me. I was surprised by this, but continued running. When he was close enough I set him on fire and while he screamed in pain, the man continued forward. He grabbed me by the shoulders, twisted me around and pushed me backwards. I stumbled and before I could catch my balance again, I felt a sharp pain in my right leg and screamed in pain as the saw pulled me down, the ridges clinging to my suit. The saw made quick work with my leg, shedding it. I continued to cry out in agony as the saw pulled me in more, quickly cutting into my lower abdomen. I looked at the Blu Spy who stood triumphantly on the point, no longer on fire. He was grinning down at me as my screams echoed throughout the building. 

A few seconds later, my world went black.


	11. Dying Light

I winced at all the voices of my teammates around me as I respawned. When I opened my eyes, I found that I was being glared down by 6 of my teammates. They were mad. I lost the mission for them, they had a right to be upset. However, I ignored them and fell back on the floor. While sitting there, my mind became busy recalling the events that just occurred. 

The saw. Oh god the saw. The ghost pain remained there still in my leg and side as I thought about the second the sharp ridges began to rip through my suit and pull at my skin before cutting into me fully. I felt something grab my leg and instinctively I screamed and pulled myself into a ball, still stuck in the memory and believing that the saw was pulling at me again. Whatever, or whomever, was touching me instantly backed off. 

“Is leetle fire man okay?” I heard Heavy’s worried words and slowly looked up, leaving the thoughts behind for the moment. Medic and Heavy were both staring at me with concerned eyes. Medic was kneeling down next to me and I assume he was what I felt touching my leg. I remained curled up on the floor as Spy ushered the others back to the base. 

I flinched at Medic’s touch when his arms wrapped around me to pick me up. He was talking, I remember seeing his lips moving, but I couldn’t tell if he was talking to me or trying to answer to Heavy’s concerns, I was too caught up in reliving the last few seconds of the mission. 

*.-.-.-.-.-.-.* 

Medic stared at the terrified girl sitting in his infirmary. In the safety of the infirmary, he had removed her mask in order to let her breathe a little easier. She hadn’t said a word to him since the start of the mission. Blu Spy had finally gotten to her and broken her. She was immobilized by fear. 

The Pyro’s normally lively gray eyes were now darkened and Medic could almost see into her thoughts through them. He remembered hearing her screams in the last few seconds. The screams of pure agony that he had heard over a hundred times from past missions and from the victims of his experiments. It was a sound that normally pleased him, but when the screams came from Pyro, they drained him of all color and filled him with dread. In the background of her screams, he heard the saw rip through her suit and the shredding of her skin and muscle as she was sawed in half. He heard the gurgling of blood at the end of her screams, as it filled her esophagus. Then, the silence that followed.

However, what the Medic remembered most of all was hearing the Spy’s muffled laughter from the outside of her mask as the saw tore her in half. The memory alone made Medic’s blood boil. That Spy had caused far too much pain for Medic’s fire loving friend. And, because of the Blu Assassin, the small girl sat, broken, on his examining table. Medic would never forgive the Frenchman for that. 

“How is she?” Medic jumped up, aiming his crossbow at Spy, the Red one. “Oh please. Put that down. I’m not my Blu counterpart.” Spy’s voice called. Medic looked the man over once more before lowering his weapon, but never fully setting it down. 

Spy locked the door behind him and made his way over to his new-found companions, his eyes locked on Pyro. She didn’t even look up when he entered, she was frozen, hugging herself and staring towards the floor. 

“Not gut. I zink our fraulein here iz still in shock.” Medic muttered softly. Spy nodded thoughtfully. 

“Do you know what happened?” Spy pushed. Medic explained what had happened to the best of his ability according to what he heard through the earpiece. When Medic had finished he looked up to see that Spy’s face had twisted into one of pure disgust. 

“He disgusts me.” Spy hissed under his breath. Spy disgust for his blu counterpart grew by the day. 

Medic and Spy jumped as there was a knock at the door. 

“Yo, Doc!” Scout’s words made Medic and Spy both groan in annoyance. Medic made his way over to the door, unlocking it. Spy stayed next to Pyro, replacing her mask on her for the time being. 

“Vhat iz it?” Medic asked, opening his door just slightly. “I’m vith herr Pyro.” 

“Good. He’s just who I wanted to see.” Scout growled, pushing past Medic and into the infirmary. Spy stood in front of Pyro protectively as Scout stomped over. Medic stumbled a bit then tried to reach for Scout to stop him, but when he couldn’t reach he just closed the door instead. 

“Move it, Spy. I want to have a word with mumbles here.” Scout stated, trying to push past Spy. 

“No. You need to leave.” Spy’s tone was threatening. Scout growled before finally pushing past the Frenchman. He planted himself in front of Pyro. 

“What’s your problem? What was with you during the mission today? Do you even know how much you sucked?” Spy and Medic tried to pull the young man away from Pyro, scolding him for his words, but the city boy just fought out of their grip. 

“You’re not even that great! You’re useless! Had you been doing your job, that damn Spy wouldn’t have even had a chance to corner us like that!” Scout continued to scream at his teammate, blaming the Pyro for everything that went wrong. The entire time, Medic and Spy tried to remove him from the room. Pyro didn’t even acknowledge Scout’s presence, which seemed to anger the young man even more. 

“Are you even listening to me?” Scout shouted. “Answer me mumbles!” Pyro didn’t move. Scout growled, grabbing Pyro’s mask, forcing the fire lover to look at him.

“Why weren’t you doing your job? Answer. Me.” Scout hissed, staring into Pyro’s eyeholes. After a few seconds, a mumbles voice came from within the mask. 

*.-.-.-.-.-.-.*

“I was scared.” 

When I answered my teammate, his frown deepened while his grip on my mask tightened. Then in one quick motion, my mask was off. My eyes widened and I instinctively tried to hide my face in my hands. But it was too late, Scout had seen me. 

“You’re a freaking girl? You’ve gotta be kiddin me!” Scout shouted, taking a step back. 

“Yes. She’s a girl. I’m surprised you even know what one looks like.” Spy hissed to his younger teammate. Medic moved over to me. 

“Are you alright, Fraulein?” he asked, concerned. I moved my hands to look at him. 

“No… I can’t stop thinking about the mission.” I whispered quietly. Medic frowned and encased my hands in his. 

“Well that explains why she sucked so much. She’s a freakin girl. She has no place out there!” Scout yelled. “No wonder Blu Spy messed her up so bad when she got here.” 

“Ve vill talk more in a minute.” The German cooed. Then, he released my hands and turned his attention to Scout. He glared at the younger teammate. 

“You shut your mouth.” Spy hissed, grabbing Scout by his collar. “You have no idea what you’re talking about!” 

“I know that she’s only going to slow us down out there!” Scout argued. “How can she fight when she’s scared of inanimate objects?”

“She has saved all of our heads more times than your brain can count and she could easily pin you to ze floor without trying. Slowing us down, should be ze least of your worries.” Spy warned. 

“Yeah right. As if a girl could beat me.” Scout chuckled. Spy growled and slammed Scout against the wall. 

“Watch your tongue, boy.” The Frenchman growled. Medic walked over, still glaring at Scout. He pointed a finger at him and poked his chest. 

“You vill tell no von of zis. Pyro’s identity is novon’s business.” Medic ordered, his voice stern and firm. Scout chuckled at Medic’s tone. 

“I’ll tell who I want to tell. I don’t keep secrets from my teammates.” Scout scoffed, finally pushing Spy away from him enough to escape the man grasp. “Unlike some people.” 

Scout began to talk towards the door and hopped down from my perch on the table. I ran in front of him and grabbed his shoulders. I looked up at him with pleading eyes. He was easily a couple of inches taller than me. 

“Scout, tell whoever you want, just please, please, don’t tell Soldier and make sure they don’t. I don’t need anything else for him to yell at me for right now. I know I’m going to be running laps the second Medic lets me leave here as it is. I promise I’ll tell him and I promise I’ll tell everyone, just, please, don’t let Soldier know.” I begged. I really didn’t want Soldier to know. Truth be told, I believed that he and Scout would be the least accepting of the team, the rest seemed laid back about almost everything, but Soldier and Scout weren’t like them. If Scout was taking it this badly, I was terrified of how Soldier would take it. 

Scout glared at me for several seconds before pushing my hands off and away from him, continuing to the door. Before he opened the door, however, he stopped and looked over his shoulder. 

“I won’t tell helmet head. Only because I know he’s an ass. And, if you haven’t told the rest of the team by tomorrow night, I’m not going to keep it from them. Whether they tell Soldier or not is up to them.” Scout’s words were obviously forced, but I’ve never heard him so serious about something. Then he was gone. 

*.-.-.-.-.-.-.*

“I DON’T KNOW WHAT THAT WAS OUT THERE TODAY MAGGOT, BUT YOU’RE GOING TO BE RUNNING LAPS UNTIL YOU CAN’T FEEL YOUR LEGS!” Soldier’s voice boomed next to my head. 

As I suspected, Soldier had me running laps the second I left the infirmary. He was waiting for me in the hall. Now, I was on my 20th lap and I already felt as though what was left in my stomach from breakfast was going to end up in the side of the track. The hot dry air of the desert was doing nothing to help me, especially with being in the suit. The suit made the heat so much worse. 

Soldier had been running beside me since we started, yelling in my ear the entire time. He was livid with me. He hadn’t said one nice word to me since the mission and to be fair, I may have deserved it a bit. I should’ve pulled myself together, but I couldn’t help it. Every time I looked at the saws, I saw death and because of that what I feared, ended up happening. Had I pulled myself together, perhaps I wouldn’t have ended up as saw dust. 

That being said, I was still in shock over the whole event. After Scout left, I went back to being quiet. The fight with blu spy replayed over and over in my head. I also could help but think of the Pyro before me and how he must’ve felt. To be in the middle of being sawed in half and realizing that he wouldn’t be coming back. That must’ve been hard. I felt bad for him, but in the same token, I didn’t know who had it worse: me or him. 

He died and no longer had to put up with the blu Spy. I was alive, yes, but now that I know exactly how ruthless blu Spy is, I get to live every mission wondering what could happen to me next. To what ends would blu Spy go to? He could do anything and that thought concerned me. 

“YOU’RE SLOWING DOWN MAGGOT!” Soldier yelled, bringing me back from my thoughts. “I WILL NOT HAVE MY MEN BE PUSHED AROUND BY THAT BLU FRENCHIE! GET IT TOGETHER, PRIVATE.” His angry words called out. That’s when I noticed that my legs were cramping and I had slowed down significantly. I was tired and I knew I wasn’t even close to being done. 

Since our missions were always short, there was always plenty of time to kill in the day after the mission. Several hours before the sun went down and if I knew Soldier, he’d have me out here sweating blood until the sun went down and possibly for an hour or two after. I groaned mentally and pushed myself to keep up with the man. 

*.-.-.-.-.-.-.*

Soldier passed the fire lover for the second time on the track. He’d lost count of how many laps the two had run sometime after 113. He had kept a steady jog the entire time and though Pyro had to walk for a few minutes, the man would always sprint to catch back up with Soldier and then jog again alongside him for a while before slowing down again. It was only a couple of laps ago that the fire lover had begun to stay at a constant slow pace. 

Soldier had to give the man credit, he’d ran the laps without even one complaint. The man was silent, which Soldier found awfully strange. Even Sniper, the usually quiet one of the group sassed Soldier the first time the veteran had made him run laps for poor performance, but Pyro was quiet. 

Soldier snapped out of his thoughts when he heard a thump behind him. He stopped jogging and turned to see Pyro on his hands and knees, breathing hard. Soldier looked to the sky, the sun was beginning to set and while he planned to have Pyro running for several more hours, he decided that it was time to stop. It would be the man’s reward for taking his punishment without complaint. 

“Alright Soldier, that’s enough for today. I’m letting you go early for your lack of whining.” Soldier said as he made his way over to the smaller man and held his arm down to help his teammate up. 

Soldier’s eyes widened as Pyro pushed his arm away and pulled himself back to his feet. The man then started jogging around the track again. Soldier watched, surprised and confused as his fire loving teammate continued pushing themselves around the track. 

“Soldier.” Soldier turned towards a soft spoken voice behind him to find Miss Pauling walking towards him. 

“Miss Pauling! What is it?” The veteran asked. 

“The Administrator told me to come in person to see how you were training Pyro. After today’s mission, she was curious as to what you were doing out here.” Miss Pauling stated firmly, looking out over the obstacle course and the track. 

“Of course! I have him running laps, at least 50 each day, 40-50 push-ups, 60 crunches, and then I have him do drills.” Soldier stated proudly. He was proud of his work training schedule. 

“Drills?” 

“Lots of running, ma’am. He does 7-10 of them every day. He starts at this line,” Soldier walked over to a line on the track and pointed to it. “Then 10 yards to that pole and back. 8 yards and back, repeat lowering the distance by 2 yards each run. Once he finishes 2 yards, that’s 1 drill. Then he starts over.” Soldier finished. Miss Pauling nodded in understanding. 

“And the obstacle course?” She asked. 

“Tire run, wire crawl, dodging panels, the wall, rubble or a series of vaulting and ducking obstacles, Rope swing, a balancing bridge, and a series of terrain changes to help train him how to maneuver jumps in the field. I have him run that several times a day.” Soldier explained. Miss Pauling nodded again and turned her attention to the Pyro who was now making their way back over to them. 

“Engie and I are going to add to the course as well.” Soldier stated after a few moments. 

“You should do that. Performances like today’s cannot continue.” Miss Pauling warned. 

“I understand.” Soldier nodded as Pyro came to stop in front of them, cocking their head to the side in a questioning motion. 

“Pyro. Glad to see you’re moving.” Miss Pauling greeted. The masked man nodded in response. Miss Pauling then frowned at Pyro slightly. 

“The Administrator isn’t pleased with your performance today. If you keep that up, you’ll-” Miss Pauling began, but stopped to cough into her shoulder. “Damn dust… stupid allergies. Anyway, if you keep up performances like today, the Administrator will be forced to get rid of you.” She finished, however, she rushed her words this time. 

Pyro was motionless and silent for several seconds before finally nodding in understanding. Miss Pauling returned the nod and turned to Soldier. 

“I’ve got what I need. I’ll be on my way. It’s cease fire tomorrow, so no need to report for a mission. Keep up the good work, Soldier.” Miss Pauling smiled. She then turned and left without another word. 

*.-.-.-.-.-.-.*

After Miss Pauling walked away Soldier turned to me, a frown on his face. 

“That’s it for today, maggot. You will return here tomorrow morning 6 o’clock sharp.” Soldier ordered. He then turn his back to me.

“You disappointed me out there today, Soldier. I can’t even let you stand alone on the field. Disappointing.” Soldier scolded before walking off. I frowned under my mask. I knew I deserved that, there was no denying it, but it still hurt. 

I’d been trying so hard during training and out on the field. I’d been trying so hard to gain Soldier’s approval, but all he does is put me down, if he says anything at all. I just wanted his approval. I wanted some kind of praise from him, even if it was just a pat on the back. The fact that I hadn’t received any praise made me both a little sad and very frustrated. 

As I watched Soldier walk away without another word, I realized at that point that I needed to receive some kind of praise from him. In order to do that I needed to become fearless and train harder than I ever had. I had to learn to not let Blu Spy bother me anymore. I had to learn to disregard anything I had heard or seen that would make me fear something. 

In that moment, I was done letting fear consume me. Even though I never knew how to really cope with my fears, I had to get over it. I needed to. It was my only chance at praise from Soldier and my only chance to survive in this line of work. 

As of that moment, I was done disappointing my team.

I wasn’t going to let Sawmill or the Blu Spy bother me ever again. 

*.-.-.-.-.-.-.*

“You were right. Ze arena completely messed with her head.” Blu Spy chuckled as he made his way into the familiar room. His echoing footsteps on the tile floor were a sound he had heard a number of times now. 

The dark figure chuckled before seating themselves on a bed, still concealed by the darkness of the room, the only light came from the hall light, which was not very bright itself. The bed was a recent development. It came along with the increase in coughing fits. Spy had been watching his boss slowly waste away. The time spent with them became longer and longer as their condition got worse. 

Spy was shaken from his thoughts as the chuckling quickly turned into a hard coughing fit. When the coughing finally ceased, the figure took in a breath to speak.   
“Good. I knew it would. They think it was just a glitch. Idiots, all of them.” The figure said, her voice was raspy and rough now. It really always had been, but the figure put on a show in the open. 

“You are not doing well.” Spy said suddenly. The figure was quiet. Spy stood for several moments and then watched as a small flame was lit and a cigarette was ignited. The flame stayed for several more moments before it disappeared, leaving only the lit cigarette as a source of light in the darkness. 

The light moved and Spy watched as the end brightened slightly while the figure took a drag of the cancer stick. Shortly following that, the figure began to cough once again.   
“Those are not helping your situation.” Spy noted, motioning to the cigarette. 

“They help ease my mind. I’m dying anyway, why should I care?” The figure stated boldly after they stopped coughing.

“They’ll quicken the process.” Spy retorted, adjusting his tie and flattening his blu suit. The figure scoffed, annoyed. 

“You’d do well to mind your own business and focus on your job. I’m growing bored of torturing the Pyro. I’d like to make it more interesting.” The figure started. She then began coughing again. Spy waited patiently. When she stopped, she took another drag of the cigarette before continuing. 

“Leave her be for a time, pop up enough to keep you in her mind, but do not cause any further harm than what is necessary for the mission. Then, in 4 weeks, I will arrange for a mission on Teufort. There, you will bring her greatest fear to life and destroy her.” The figure’s voice was threatening, as though she were threatening Pyro herself.

“And what exactly would that be?” Spy questioned. There was movement on the bed and then the figure slid a folder across the floor toward Spy. The blu Frenchman looked from the folder to his boss a few times before picking it up and opening it. Upon seeing its contents, he drowned out the sound of the woman coughing while he read the papers inside.

There were articles, all dedicated to the Pyro, or Emily as the articles referred. They gave details of a large house fire and how the flames killed a woman, a mother, and left third degree burns on one of the 2 children. The father also had minor injuries, but he wasn’t discussed too many times in the articles. Spy read on, discovering that the mother was roughly 6 months pregnant with her third child and that one of the children was not in the house at the time of the fire. That child was Pyro. 

Spy’s interest grew as he discovered that Pyro was the cause of the fire. She herself had started it for reasons unknown other than the fact that she thought the flames were “pretty.” Well, at least her choice in jobs made sense now. 

Then, Spy found the information he needed. Pyro had attended therapy as punishment. Something that was supposed to help Pyro understand that fire isn’t great and that thinking it was good was bad, actually ended up creating a monster. It created a monster by showing Pyro exactly what she had done and allowing her to take it all in. 

Now, whenever someone brings up the fire and continues to pressure her into talking about it, she loses her mind and it sends her into a destructive, murderous monster. She tries to kill the person talking about it by burning them alive and then, in turn, destroys everything in her way. 

Spy grinned as he learned her dark secret. With this, he could turn her entire team against her. 

With this, he could destroy her.


	12. Spreading Like a Wildfire

Medic breathed in slowly as he watched Pyro through his window, struggle through the obstacle course for the 5th time. He could see in the way she moved that she was exhausted, but still, she continued. She would hate herself in the morning. The girl had turned on the giant baseball field like lights on that lit up the entire training field and had continued pushing herself into the night. Medic sighed, turning away from the window and removing his glasses from his face. It was hard to watch his friend destroy herself like this. Pyro had been out there since Soldier took her earlier today, running lap after lap and then still continuing to run and go through the course long after Soldier had left and told her she could stop. Medic couldn’t tell if she was punishing herself with training or on a suicide mission. 

“Should we tell ze others for her?” Spy asked calmly. He had been with Medic since Pyro left, except for briefly when he went to speak with Engineer. He and Medic were now trying to decide how to help Pyro get stronger and recover mentally from today’s incident.

“Nein, but I zink ve should follow through vith ze ozer plan.” The doctor said tiredly. Spy nodded. 

“I will run the plan by Soldier. In ze meantime, you should try to talk some sense into that girl before she over does it out there.” Spy noted, pointing to the window. Medic nodded, putting his glasses back on. 

“I vill try my best.” 

*.-.-.-.-.-.-.*

I fell to the ground as I flung myself over the wall for the 6th time. My body was screaming for me to stop, but I didn’t want to. I can’t get stronger unless I push my body to the limit. I started to pull myself up again when I felt two hands grab my arms gently. I knew who it was immediately. 

I looked up at Medic who had knelt down in front of me. His face expressed his deep concern for me, explaining why he was holding my arms currently. He helped me up and let go of me now that he had my attention. I lifted my mask just enough to un cover my mouth, without the microphone, I couldn’t speak to him without exposing my mouth. I kept my back to the base though. 

“Let me guess, you came out here to make me stop and come back inside.” I said matter-of-factly. Medic nodded. 

“I’m concerned zat you might be on a suicide mission.” The German said, a small smirk tugging at his lips. I allowed a small giggle to escape me.   
“It would be better than the hell Soldier is going to put me through tomorrow.” I grinned. Medic chuckled. 

“Alright… I won’t fight you on this. I’ll come inside and rest a bit, but only because my body feels like it might start falling apart any second.” I sighed. 

“Gut! Come, Engie left dinner out for you und you need to eat.” Medic said, half scolding me for not coming in to eat. He tugged on my arm, making sure I did actually come back inside for the night. He shut off the lights that lit up the field on our way back in. 

Once we were back inside and Medic had shut the door, he let me go and began walking towards the kitchen. I followed him, now completely looking forward to the food that awaited me.

“Ven are you going to tell ze ozers about you?” Medic asked as we entered the kitchen. I remained silent for a few moments, considering when would be best. 

“Have they gone to bed yet?” I asked. 

“Not zat I know of.” Medic busied himself with heating up my food while I considered my options. 

“Then probably after I finish eating.” I said thoughtfully. 

A few minutes later Medic set the plate of warmed up food in front of me. He sat across from me, sipping on a cup of coffee while watching me as I ate. 

“Hey Medic,” I began, mouth full of food. Engie really knows how to cook a steak! Bless his Texan heart. Medic seemed to snap out of a trance as he moved his gaze to meet mine.  
“Could you get the gang together in the living room? Except Soldier. Let him sleep. I’ll figure out how to tell him later… at some point.” I requested. Medic nodded, getting up to round up the team. 

“I vill meet you out zere.” The german said as he left. 

*.-.-.-.-.-.-.*

Engie adjusted on the sofa as he tried to get comfortable. Sniper took a seat next to him. Medic had called them all in for some kind of meeting, but he didn’t say it was about.  
“Any idea what this is about?” Engie asked the taller man. Sniper shook his head. 

“Not a clue.” Sniper shrugged. Sniper then grumbled something about wanting to get back to his van and taking a nap. 

Within the next few minutes, the entire team minus Soldier, Spy and Pyro had filed into the room. Engie took note of the abnormally sour state that Scout was in as the young Bostonian threw himself down into one of the chairs and crossed his arms. Engie rolled his eyes at the younger man. He must’ve been throwing a temper tantrum about something. 

“Zank you all for coming und taking ze time out of your night. Herr Pyro, vants to make an announcement.” Medic stated to the group. Engie watched Scout roll his eyes at the mention of the fire lover and then turned his attention to said man as he walked into the room. Pyro walked to the middle of the room to stand next to Medic and then there was silence. Engie watched as Medic offered the Pyro a supportive squeeze on his arm. What the hell was going on? 

Engie’s question was answered seconds later as Pyro slowly unzipped his suit enough to pull off his helmet. Engie’s, and everyone else’s, jaw dropped to the floor as Pryo pulled off his mask to reveal a very feminine face coupled with a long brunette braid. Pyro is a girl! Well, what do ya’ know! 

*.-.-.-.-.-.-.*

I looked around at the shocked faces around me. I purposely avoided Scouts gaze, not wanting the negativity to destroy my confidence. 

“Hey guys… Sorry to take you away from whatever you were doing, but I figured it was time you guys knew the truth…” I began. I noticed some of my teammates becoming bored, others seemed confused, but only Scout seemed angry. Since this was my first time actually talking to any of them, I figured I should try to break the ice. 

“I’ve been keeping something from you guys, but I’m sure you’ve figured it out by now…. I was the one who ate the last piece of Engie’s apple pie the other night.” I joked in mock embarrassment and shame. The room exploded in laughter as the men took in my joke. Scout stared at them in shock and confusion. 

“I know, I know, I should’ve asked if anyone else wanted it first, but I couldn’t help myself. Engie bakes better than my own mother! I have no self-control… I hope you can forgive me.” I continued the joke as the men continued to laugh. 

“I really ‘ad me eye on that pie!” Demo cried out in mock sadness, continuing the joke now. I grinned before playing along and acting upset. 

“I know Demo! I felt horrible about it… Mama always told me not to mess with a Scottish man’s pie… I really hope you can forgive me.” I mock begged. Demo smirked.   
“I dunno lass… I dunno’ if I can forgive ye fer this.” The Scotsman said in mock anger. I giggled and gestured to Engie. 

“I make you another one! A whole pie just for you! It won’t taste as good as Engie’s but it’ll be all yours! No sharing!” I offered. Demo pretended to think about it for a few seconds before nodding. 

“That’ll do lass! Yer forgiven.” The Scotsman said. The laughter died down as I wiped my brow in mock relief. Once the men had calmed down again I decided it was time to get back to the actual reason for bringing them here. I opened my mouth to speak but Scout jumped up and began yelling at the others. 

“Are ya serious? You’re jokin’ right? She’s a girl and you’re all just gonna joke about some stupid pie?” Scout yelled, his leftover anger from the loss today lacing his words.

“What’s wrong Scoot? Afraid that a Sheila might be better at killin’ than you?” Sniper smirked. The others chuckled as his comment. I watched in horror as Scout had his outburst. 

“No ya dumb Aussie. I’m not afraid of some girl being betta than me, but she lost the match today and she’s a girl! She has no right out there on the battlefield!” Scout shouted.  
I looked down slightly, frowning at his comments. 

“Well, goin’ by that logic. You don’t belong out there either, string bean. You’re more feminine than she is.” Engie stated, crossing him arms. He was raised to respect women and Scout was starting to grind his gears. Demo nodded in agreement. 

“Aye. Hav’ ye heard the way ye scream lad?” The Scotsman smirked. 

“You’ve got to be kiddin me.” Scout growled. 

“You leave leetle fire girl alone.” Heavy stated grumpily. Scout turned to the tall Russian who’d managed to move behind Scout and was now towering over him. Scout gulped as he turned to look up at the taller man. Heavy glared at the Bostonian and Scout huffed as he turned on his heel to leave. 

“Scout!” I called out to him. He stopped in his place and looked over his shoulder at me. “Remember our deal.” I said, praying he wouldn’t tell Soldier. Scout scoffed, rolling his eyes and left. My frowned deepened. 

“Is Pyro okay?” Heavy asked, bringing my attention back to the group. They all offered me concerned glances. I forced a weak smile for the group and nodded. 

“I’m fine, thank you Heavy.” I said. This made the bigger man smile. 

“I wanted to apologize to you guys for my performance today. It was unacceptable.” I stated. Engie gave me a dismissive wave. 

“Don’t worry yourself over one match darlin’.” The Texan stated. The others nodded in agreement. 

“We all have our bad days, mate.” Sniper added. “Won’t be our first loss.” 

“And it won’t be our last!” Demo pitched in. I smiled at the group, they were all so nice and not one of them cared that I was a girl. Scout is the only one who seemed to care. Medic turned to face me. 

“Vat had you zo scared today, Fräulein? During ze match?” The german asked, his curiosity getting the better of him. The others seemed to lean forward, listening as they wanted to know too. I exhaled, trying to keep my composure as I thought back on everything. 

“When I first got here and met with the administrator, she was reviewing the video with the murder of the Pyro before me. I sat on the other side of her desk and watched it on replay for minutes before she finally spoke with me.” I explained. 

“When we left the spawn and I realized where we were… I couldn’t get that video of the pyro being killed by those saws out of my head. Every time I got near them I would have a small panic attack and just freeze up.” 

Sniper stood up and walked over to me. He placed a hand on my shoulder and gave it a slight squeeze. His eyes were full of understanding and as I looked around the room, everyone else carried the same expression. 

“Johnson, the pyro before you, he was a good man. My best friend really.” Engie said. “What happened to him… I promise you, we will not let happen to you Darlin’.” The others nodded in agreement. 

“You two are much the same.” Heavy smiled. 

“What do you mean?” I asked, Heavy peeked my interest with his comment. 

“Ye both are funny,” Demo started. 

“Strong,” Heavy continued. 

“Und don’t mind dealing vith herr Soldier.” Medic chuckled. I giggled at this. 

“Not to mention you can wield an Ax just like ol’ Johnson. I didn’t think there was a man alive who could match up to him, but you can.” Engie grinned. 

“Well. You’re right. There isn’t a MAN alive who could.” I smirked, playfully throwing my braid over my shoulder. The men laughed. I offered them another smile. 

“I will try harder in the next match. I won’t let you guys down again. I’m not going to let Blu Spy get to me like that again.” I stated proudly. 

“Well don’t be afraid to ask for help. We’ve got your back.” Engie stated. The room filled with comments of agreement as the men smiled at me. 

“Thanks you guys.” I said giving them a warm smile.

*.-.-.-.-.-.-.*

“Do Spy and Soldier know about… well, you?” Engie asked. Pyro shook her head. 

“Spy knows, but Soldier doesn’t and I would really appreciate if you guys didn’t tell him.” Pyro said. Engie caught the slight fear that flashed across her eyes when she mentioned Soldier. Engie knew she had good reason for fearing Soldier’s response. Especially after Scout’s display. 

Soldier has opened up to Engie multiple times and has even told Engie that he’s his only “friend.” Soldier is an intimidating man, Engie admitted thoughtfully, but he also knew that Soldier was a good guy past the wall he’d built up around him from being in the military. Soldier didn’t want to look weak in front of everyone, that’s why he’s always yelling and screaming and acting like a real asshole. 

Engie would never tell anyone that, however. It was too much fun watching them be intimidated by the man. 

“I just don’t know how he’ll react yet and I’m not ready to face whatever that reaction might be.” Pyro explained, bringing Engie focus back into the conversation. 

“As much as I hate to say it, until you’ve impressed him, not telling him would be a good idea.” Engie added. “Soldier isn’t an easy person to please and while I mean no offense in saying this, you being a woman will not help your cause. In his eyes, that makes you weaker.” Pyro nodded to him. 

“That’s why I’m asking for you all to keep it between us. I’ll tell Soldier one day, but I need to know I’m not going to get kicked off the team or be pushed through hell and back for doing so first. Soldier has the attitude of a woman going through menopause and I can’t deal with that right now.” Pyro stated. Engie chuckled with the rest of the men at her comment. 

They all agreed to keep Pyro’s identity a secret from Soldier and after thanking them, Pyro went off to bed, mentioning that she had training in the morning with Soldier and wanted some kind of rest before then. Once she had left the men turned to each other. 

“So, vat do you zink?” Medic asked the group. 

*.-.-.-.-.-.-.* 

Spy knocked on the door to Soldier’s bedroom. 

“What is it?” Soldier’s voice called. He sounded angry, Spy noted. Great. 

“It’s me.” The Frenchman called back. A few moments later the door was opened swiftly and Spy was face to face with a shirtless and helmetless Soldier.   
“What is it?” Soldier grumbled. 

“We need to talk about our fire loving friend and what to do with them.” Spy stated. Soldier stared at Spy while he thought it over and after a couple of seconds, moved aside to let Spy into his room. Spy nodded slightly to the man as thanks for inviting him in before entering. 

Spy took a seat in one of the arm chairs Soldier had in his room. Soldier opened a minifridge in his room and pulled out a bottle of beer. He extended it to Spy as an offer. The Frenchmen held up his hand and shook his head no, politely declining the drink. Soldier shrugged, closing the fridge and popping the cap off with the side of a table. The broader man took a long sip of the bottle before sitting down in the other chair opposite of Spy.

“So, what do you want to talk about regarding Pyro?” the American asked, humoring Spy for the moment. Spy could tell that Soldier really didn’t want to be having this conversation, but this was important for his friend’s survival. 

“His performance today.” Spy stated, lighting a cigarette and taking a puff from it. 

“Was the worst performance I’ve ever witnessed.” Soldier responded, taking another sip from his beer. Spy held back the urge to punch the man. 

“He knows about how Johnson died.” Spy snapped at the other man. Soldier was silent for a few moments, taking in Spy’s comment. Spy watched his facial expressions. He couldn’t decipher what exactly Soldier was thinking about. He took another drag of his cigarette while he waited for Soldier to respond. 

“That doesn’t excuse his performance.” Soldier finally answered, taking another long swig of his drink. 

“Non, but now we know what he needs to work on.” Spy retorted. “He needs training mentally, more so than physically.” Soldier snorted at that. 

“He needs training in every aspect.” The military man replied. Spy rolled his eyes. 

“Well then I trust you to handle ze physical training. However, we should add to ze obstacle course.” Spy said matter-of-factly. Soldier stared at him, waiting for the Frenchman to continue. Spy sighed and put out his cigarette in a nearby ashtray. He then pulled out a piece of paper from one of the inner pockets of his suit. 

“I’ve made a list of… additions to the obstacle course that I believe would help our friend. I looked into his greatest fears according to ze documents that we have on him and implemented them into the course.” Spy explained, passing the paper to Soldier. 

Solider put his drink down on the table between them and took the paper from Spy, looking over it. Spy watched him as he read over the list, taking note of every slight facial expression that the American showed. From what Spy could tell, Soldier was excited about adding these features, but also showed a hint of caution. 

“Does Engie know about these changes?” Soldier finally asked. Spy nodded. 

“I spoke with him earlier while you made Pyro run himself into ze ground.” Spy noted. Soldier merely grunted in response. He stared at the paper for another couple of minutes. Spy kept his patience with his teammate. Soldier, as much as Spy hated to admit it, was better at training mercenaries than anyone. He knew how to whip people into shape. While Spy could offer ideas, Soldier would have to be the one to implement them. Soldier knew how to work people. Even if he was an asshole about it. 

“I want these changes made tonight. Go get Engie and the supplies and you two meet me outside. I want to start Pyro on these bright and early. Grab Heavy and Demo while you’re at it. We’ll need all the help we can get.” Soldier ordered. He then stood and finished off the rest of his drink. He tossed the bottle into a nearby bin and began getting dressed. 

Spy stood with a smile and nodded to Soldier before leaving the room. Pyro would not have to conquer her fears on her own, not while Spy was around, and if that means putting her through her own nightmares, that’s what Spy would do. 

Pyro will get stronger and when they’re finished with her… she will be a force to be reckoned with.


	13. Up in Flames

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: 
> 
> Alright so this is the last chapter I have updated. I'm working on finishing up the next chapter, but I will probably update weekly or bi-weekly, it all depends on how much time I have in the week to finish the chapter. Between work and school, I don't always get a lot of spare time.
> 
> I will definitely update within 2 weeks though! Thanks for sticking around to the 13th chapter! I hope you're enjoying the story and I'm glad if you are!

I awoke the next morning to Soldier banging on my bedroom door and screaming at me to wake up and meet him out back after I ate breakfast in 15 minutes. Groaning, I crawled out of bed and chanced a look at my alarm clock. 

“4:30 in the morning!” I yelled, “Is he out of his mind? It’s still dark out!” I groaned. Soldier said 6 in the morning yesterday, what in the hell was he getting me up this early for? I pulled on my suit and threw my hair up into a quick braid before pulling my mask on. I zipped up my suit and headed for the kitchen. 

Medic was in the middle of frying up some bacon when I walked in. He gave me a tired sideways glance before he returned his attention to the bacon. He took three pieces that seemed to be done out of the pan and placed them on a plate next to what appeared to be a spinach omelet. He then held the plate out to me. I took it and couldn’t help the frown that appeared on my face. I hate spinach. 

“Herr Soldier iz not here Fräulein.” Medic stated when I didn’t immediately begin eating. “You can remove ze mask.” I removed my mask upon hearing this, placing it on the empty part of the counter. 

“I don’t really like spinach…” I said quietly, grabbing a fork and knife from the silverware drawer. 

“Zat iz too bad. I don’t like vaking up at ungodly hours of ze morning.” Medic said, clearly tired. It seemed as though even his words were struggling to find the energy to leave his mouth. He looked awful too, now that I took a moment to fully look him over. He looked like he had just woken up with his loose black pajama pants and white wife-beater top on. It was odd to see Medic in anything other than his lab coat and dress clothes. His messy hair, 5 o’clock shadow and the dark circles under his eyes were doing him no justice either. 

“But, it seems Soldier has different plans. Zo, if I have to be avake, you can eat some spinach.” Medic continued, placing the other few pieces of bacon on another plate. After Medic had placed the pan in the sink and filled it with water to soak, he and I walked over to the dining room with our food. He placed a glass of orange juice in front of me when I sat down. He then went back to the kitchen and returned with a mug of coffee for himself before sitting down across from me. 

“Why did Soldier wake you up so early, Medic?” I asked before reluctantly cutting and taking a bite of the spinach omelet, not wanting to anger Medic. 

“Zo zat I could prepare breakfast for you und be around in case I am needed during your training.” Medic spat, irritated. Note to self: Never wake Medic up before 5:30. Medic looked up from his coffee to look me over. After a few seconds, he sighed and stood, placing his mug on the table. He walked to stand behind me and began messing with my hair. 

“What are you doing?” I asked, more curious than concerned. 

“Fixing your hair. It iz a mess.” The German stated, taking my hair out of its braid and beginning to pull it up higher. “Did you even brush it?” he scolded. 

“No mom. Soldier said I had 15 minutes. I just kind of threw it up into a quick braid rushed down here.” I said, allowing some sass to sneak its way into my words. Medic tugged on my hair in return. 

“I vas just joking, Fräulein. No need for attitude.” The doctor stated, a hint of a smirk in his voice. At least he seemed to be getting happier and less irritable. “Your roots, zey are not brown? You are a redhead?” He questioned, while putting my hair into a much tighter braid. I nodded my head while I swallowed the last of the omelet. 

“Is the red showing that much? I haven’t looked in a mirror in ages. I guess I should dye it again soon.” I stated, more to myself than to Medic.

“Vhy vould you do zat? Do you not like ze red?” Medic asked, taking the finished braid and wrapping it into a tight bun. I paused deciding if I wanted to answer him or not. I trust Medic with my life, but I don’t think I’m ready to talk about everything with him yet. 

“Not really. I like the brown better.” I replied finally. 

“Vell… for vat it’s vorth. I zink you vould look stunning vith red hair. Especially vith zose beautiful gray eyes.” Medic complimented as he tied off the bun. “Zere, zat should hold for ze day.” Medic said, admiring his handiwork before returning to his breakfast. 

“Thanks Medic… For the compliment and the hair. Since when do you know how to do hair?” I asked with a grin. 

“I used to help ze nurses vith their hair during ze var. It vas easier for me to do it vather zen zey try to fix it vile vorking on a patient.” The doctor replied matter-of-factly. That’s right… most of these men had participated in war before. That’s how most of them got this job. I nodded, acknowledging him. 

“Interesting… Well, I’d love to stay and chat, trust me I really would, but I’m afraid I have to go meet Soldier so that he can put me through hell and back.” I said, standing and gathering my dishes to take them to the kitchen. Medic cleared his throat and motioned to the glass of orange juice when I turned to him. I rolled my eyes playfully and quickly chugged the drink, not wanting to keep soldier waiting. 

“Be careful today.” Medic said as I began to leave the room. 

“Yeah, yeah! I will! See you later, Medic!” I called back to the German as I left to retrieve my mask from the kitchen and head out back to meet Soldier. 

*.-.-.-.-.-.-.*

Medic stared at his food after the younger woman had left to go to training. He hated that he was so rude to her this morning, but Soldier set him off. Not only had the American woken him up 4 hours before he wanted to be awake on a ceasefire day, but he told him that he planned to force Pyro to face every fear she had, one right after another, during her training today. Medic was all for making people face their fears, but not all of them in one day. Something about Soldier forcing Pyro to do just that angered Medic to his very core. He’d seen Pyro broken once and he wasn’t ready to watch her break again. 

He sighed and began eating his meal. In an effort to help calm his anger, Medic tried to imagine Pyro with long wavy red hair. It was a sight he found himself wishing that he could see with his own eyes. He’d seen Pyro a number of times without her mask in the last few days, but he’d only just seen the red roots in her hair today while he was up close and working with it. It wasn’t the bright strawberry blond kind of red, perhaps it was at one point, but through what could be years of dying it, it’s darkened to a deeper and browner red. Still a gorgeous color, Medic noted as he imagined it. 

Then the German began to wonder what it would feel like to run his fingers through her gorgeous red locks and stopped mid chew as he noticed his cheeks heating up a bit at the thought. Was he blushing? No, no, it couldn’t be. Medic wouldn’t deny that he thought his fire-loving teammate was beautiful, anyone would with her small perfectly sculpted pear-shaped body, mousy face, small pointed nose and sparkling silver eyes that you could get lost in, but he definitely did not have any feelings for the girl… did he? No,… No of course not. He was only blushing because he was embarrassed to be thinking about his teammate and friend in any kind of loving way. Yes, that was it. That’s all it was. Medic frowned at his half-eaten meal. That was what his brain said anyway, but his heart was telling him otherwise. 

The German sighed as he realized his developing feelings for his teammate. He began cleaning up his plate and dishes, having lost his appetite because he knew this couldn’t end well. If there was anything the doctor had learned during his time in war, it’s that there was no room for love in a war zone. It would only lead to pain. 

*.-.-.-.-.-.-.*

I jogged up to Soldier who was staring at his watch as I approached him, only looking away from it and turning his attention to me when I had stopped in front of him and saluted. He looked a little tired as he was slouching ever so slightly. If I didn’t know Soldier, I wouldn’t have noticed it. He returned the salute before speaking. 

“You’re a minute early, private! Glad to see it!” Soldier stated loudly before continuing. “If you look out at the obstacle course, you’ll see we’ve added on to it!” So, that’s why he looks so tired. I lowered my salute and looked past him to see a smaller thrown together building at what used to be the end of the obstacle course. I didn’t know what was inside it, but I couldn’t say that I was excited for it. Soldier wasn’t one for going easy on people, so whatever was in there I could only assume would be another portion of the hell that he was going to put me through today. I returned my attention to Soldier, ready to just get whatever he had planned over with. 

“Before we get to that, I want you to start by giving me 50 laps! Move, move, move!” The veteran yelled. I didn’t hesitate and immediately began running laps, Soldier at my side, shouting his “insults of encouragement.” 

*.-.-.-.-.-.-.* 

As usual, what Soldier had originally called 50 laps, turned into 80 or 90. He did lose count a couple of times due to his lack of sleep. He knew he probably should’ve slept like the others had, but he wanted to start Pyro on the new course as soon as possible. The war veteran watched his fire loving teammate turn his back to him and bend over on the side of the track to lift his mask and puke. After what Soldier assumed was Pyro’s breakfast had finished exiting his stomach, he ordered him to begin the usual beginning routine of 30 crunches, 25 push-ups, a 3 minute plank, and 5 sets of drills. 

Soldier waved in some of his other teammates as they came out during Pyro’s routine. Medic, Spy, Heavy, and Engineer. Soldier had asked each of them to come out and help with Pyro’s training today. They each had their own qualities that would help the fire lover get through the new portion of the track they’d designed and built last night. Medic was simply there as back-up. Soldier knew that forcing Pyro to face his fears would take a mental toll on him and while Soldier was a fan of the “get over it” kind of teaching, he also knew that it was unethical to put a person through that much pressure and stress without having something to fall back on.

Soldier focused on Pyro as they finished their last lap on their drills. The younger teammate stopped in front of Soldier and saluted him again once he’d finished his routine. Soldier did not return the salute this time though. Pyro waited before ending his salute as if to see if Soldier would return it. Soldier nodded his head toward the obstacle course. 

“I expect you to finish the normal portion of the course within 3 minutes, starting… NOW” Soldier ordered. He smirked as he watched Pyro scramble to the course in order to finish it in the time limit given. Soldier then waved to the others, motioning for them to follow him as he made his way over to the new building. He wanted to be there when Pyro finished the main portion of the course so that they could move right into the new stuff. Subconsciously, he’d been dreading this portion. He didn’t know much about his newest teammate. They’d been working together for weeks now, but he still didn’t even know what the guy looked like. That made forcing him to face his fears that much harder. Soldier didn’t know how he would react, so, in a sense, Soldier was going into this about as blind as Pyro was. He had to be ready to deal with whatever Pyro’s reactions would be. Soldier could, in fact, be putting all of the men here in danger, but it was a risk they had to take. If they didn’t want to lose another perfectly good teammate to a Blu Spy, they needed Pyro to be able to carry himself, fears or not. Pyro needed to face his fears and learn to cope with them and for Soldier, it was now or never. 

*.-.-.-.-.-.-.*

I should’ve known something was off when I saw a few of my teammates come out onto the field. I should’ve known that something was off when Soldier neglected to say specifically what was inside this new building they’d made. I knew I was going to hate what he had waiting for me, but I didn’t know I was going to be thrown into a pit with my biggest fears and Soldier being my only way out. 

When I finished the regular obstacle course Soldier happily informed me that I’d completed it in under 2 and half minutes. Then, without further praise, took me into this new building. I had assumed that the hole in the ground would be used as a sort of sparing grounds, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. Soldier, quite literally, threw me into the pit and informed me that today I would be facing my biggest fears and I couldn’t leave the pit until I had done so. I panicked. I couldn’t do this. 

“First up! We’re going to cure you of that fear of darkness. Engie! Cut the lights!” Soldier called. Seconds later, I was sitting in the dark. This… this wasn’t bad. This I could handle. My fear of the dark wasn’t bad and it wasn’t really the darkness that I feared, but what was in the dark that I hated and feared. A few minutes later the lights came back on and I let out a breath that I didn’t know I was holding. 

“Are you alright Private?” Soldier asked. I nodded to him. “Good! Then on to the next one! The infamous saws!” Oh no. I looked around as small doors in the floors opened on either side of me and two giant saws, much like the ones from Sawmill, rose up from them. 

“Take a few steps back, Soldier.” Soldier ordered and I listened, moving back until my back was against the wall. Then the Saws started running, moving back and forth across the pit, slow enough to where I should have enough time to cross the pit as they moved to the sides. I thought of Johnson, the Pyro before me, and instantly froze. The sound they made as they turned and moved across the pit was like nails on a chalkboard to me and only made me cringe and want to avoid them more. When I didn’t move, Engie hopped down into the pit and crossed between the saws with ease to get to me. 

“Pyro, son, you listenin’ ta me boy?” The smaller man asked me. I managed a nod. He gave me a small smile. 

“Good. Pyro, you’ve got nuthin’ ta fear from them there saws. I know what you went through when ya got caught in one. I been there too, but your fear of’em is what’ll get ya’ll in trouble. Now, those Saws? They ain’t out to get ya. They’re doin’ what they’re made to do; turn and move to cut wood, not you. All you gotta do is keep out of their way.” Engie explained, trying to reason with me. I stood there, watching the saws as I took in what he said. He was right. They’re not out to get me, as long as I stay out of their way, they can’t harm me which means I don’t need to worry about them and I can focus on the enemies around me. If I focus on them, they can’t put me in the way of the saws and they can’t hurt me. 

I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly to calm myself. I placed a hand on Engie’s shoulder, nodding to him as thanks. He smiled at me and gestured to the saws. I gave his shoulder a squeeze before letting go and moving towards them. I stood before them as they crossed the middle and headed to opposite directions and then, once they were out of the way and with another deep breath, I crossed between them, over their paths, and to the other side. Engie and the others, minus Soldier, shouted words of praise to me. Engie crossed back over to me and gave me a high five before Soldier pulled him out. 

“Now, for the next step.” Soldier stated. Spy and Engie disappeared towards the controls. Seconds later, speakers around the room came to life and began playing a lot of loud banging noises like pots and pans being smacked together and high pitched noises. Some of the speakers even played the sound of fire burning and gunfire. The sudden amount of loud noises coming from the speakers and the sounds of the saws still running were enough to immediately send my brain into overdrive. Oh no. No. No. No. No. This needed to stop. I clutched at the sides of my mask and immediately sank to the ground. Then I heard footsteps approach me over the noise. I looked up to find Soldier standing over me. He crouched and stared into the mask, as though he was trying to look into my eyes and see what was running through my mind. 

“You’re scared of loud noises.” He said loudly over the noise. “They’re just noises Private. Block them out!” Soldier yelled. No. No, he couldn’t be more wrong. The noises did not scare me. I shook my head and clutched tighter at my mask. 

“You can do this Private!” Soldier yelled. I shook my head again and looked up to the saws. They were still running. This isn’t good. I fell to the ground, trying hard to keep control as the noise began to stress me out, Soldier’s yelling only adding to it. I felt tears start to crawl down my face. When I looked up at Soldier again, Heavy was next to him now, giving me a concerned look. No, not heavy too. This had to stop before… 

I ripped off my mask.

“STOP. STOP THE NOISE. STOP THE SAWS. PLEASE, MAKE IT STOP.” I screamed. 

*.-.-.-.-.-.-.* 

Surprised doesn’t quite explain Soldier’s reaction to Pyro when she pulled her mask off and revealed that she was, in fact, a she rather than a he. However, he needed to disregard that for the moment. He needed to get her through this test, then he would confront her about her identity later. 

“We will not turn off the noise! Not until you learn to handle it!” Soldier yelled back. Pyro’s face was now soaked with tears and she stared at Soldier, fear blatant in her gray eyes. It was almost enough to make him stop the test. Almost. Heavy took a step toward Pyro and went to hug her, trying to comfort the small woman. As he moved in, Soldier saw a flash in the woman’s eyes and he knew then that he had made a mistake. Nothing could have prepared him for what happened next. 

Pyro lost it. He watched as the fearful look in her eyes flicked over to a crazed one. She’d snapped. She pushed Heavy away from her and ran away, closer to the saws, but not quite in their path. Heavy was caught off guard and stumbled a bit, but regained his composure and turned to his fire-loving friend. He approached her again. 

“Heavy! Stay back! Get away from her!” Soldier called to the bigger man. The Russian ignored Soldier, wanting only to calm his friend. Soldier growled and motioned to Medic. “Shut it down!” Soldier called out. Medic passed on the message and the speakers died down to silence. When the saws did not shut off Soldier called up to his teammates working the controls. 

“Why are those saws still on? I said shut it down!” Soldier growled. 

“The controls are jammed!” Engie called back. Soldier growled and turned to his other two teammates in the pit. Heavy was approaching Pyro and she still hadn’t come down from this crazed state. This wasn’t good. Heavy went to pull her away from the saws, reaching out his arm. 

“Don’t touch me!” She warned. “Don’t even come near me!” But Heavy continued to reach his arm out. 

“Get away from saws.” Heavy said, trying to reason with her. She shook her head and went down, throwing her leg out to pull his legs out from under him. Heavy went down with a loud thud and Pyro was instantly on top of him, holding the arm he had been reaching out towards her in the path of one of the saws. 

“Pryo stop!” Soldier yelled, running over. He tried pulling her away, but she was strong and fought him. 

“I warned you!” The girl screamed over and over. Soldier looked at the incoming saw and rushed to move her. Heavy was pushing against her too trying to free himself. Finally, as Soldier pulled her off the Russian, she dislocated his arm from his shoulder. Heavy’s arm became limp as he cried out in pain. Soldier pushed her to the other side of the pit where Medic grabbed her and held her back. Heavy howled in pain again as one of the saws began tearing at his limp arm. Soldier jumped in and pulled the bigger man’s arm out of the saw and away from it. There was blood. A lot of blood. Seconds later, Engie got the controls back online and shut the saws down. Soldier busied himself with ripping off a strip of fabric from his undershirt and tightly wrapping it around Heavy’s upper arm, slowing the blood flow. He glanced at Pyro. With the added noise from the saws gone, she seems to have calmed down, but is now staring at Heavy in horror. Soldier ignored her for the moment and called Medic over. 

He watched Medic pick Pyro up and pass her to Spy at the top of the pit before running over. He looked Heavy over quickly. 

“We need to get him to the infirmary. Now. Help me pick him up.” Medic stated, irritated. Soldier helped Medic lift the heavy Russian up to Engie and Spy who pulled him up. Soldier lifted Medic up before pulling himself up and out of the pit. Soldier helped Engie and Medic walk Heavy to the infirmary, leaving Pyro with Spy. He’d take care of her later.

*.-.-.-.-.-.-.* 

No. 

This can’t be happening.

I was on my knees, slouched over and staring at my hands. The hands that had just caused Heavy to almost lose an arm, if they could fix it. If not, I caused him to lose an arm.

No. 

I’d lost control again. Why didn’t they listen to me when I told them to stop? Why couldn’t I control myself? What was wrong with me?

This is my fault. 

“Come, let’s get you out of here.” Spy said, gently reaching down to pick me up bridal style. I was frozen. I didn’t move as he carried me back inside the base and to my room. 

I did it again. 

Spy opened my door and took me to my bed, sitting me down before closing the door. 

“Pyro?” Spy asked. He was trying to get my attention. I looked at him. He was moving his mouth. He was speaking to me, but I didn’t hear him. I turned my back to him, buried my face in my hands, and began to cry harder than I had cried in a long time. 

*.-.-.-.-.-.-.* 

Medic could kill Soldier right now for what just happened. He wasn’t upset about Heavy, he was furious about Pyro. He expects this kind of thing to happen to Heavy because he thinks he’s invincible and does things without thinking, but Pyro… Medic knew Pyro and that was most definitely not Pyro that he just witnessed. That… thing, that did this to Heavy was created by Soldier. The German glares at Heavy’s arm as he thinks about it all. They’ve moved Heavy onto the operating table and the doctor was trying to decide if this was a simple fix. His medigun had limitations, and unfortunately, Medic couldn’t fix this with the medigun. Too much nerve, muscle, bone and blood vessel damage with this one. Heavy’s left arm was only still attached by a few joints near the shoulder. Joints that currently, were not even in their proper place due to the dislocation. 

“I can do nozing. Ve vill have to amputate it completely and close off ze blood vessels to keep him alive.” Medic stated simply, looking at the other two. 

“Do what you must to keep him alive.” Soldier ordered. 

“Aw hell.” Engie muttered, looking at his right hand, the one he had lost sometime ago.

Medic nodded to Soldier, grabbed his bonesaw and proceeded to finish cutting Heavy’s arm off. He didn’t bother putting Heavy to sleep for the procedure since he had already passed out from the pain, shock, and loss of blood all together. Once he had finished, he placed the arm in a tray on the table next to him, then began to stitch up what he could of Heavy’s arm so that he wouldn’t lose as much blood until it clotted enough and stopped bleeding completely. When all that was left was to wrap up the nub that used to be Heavy’s arm, Medic’s mind drifted back to Pyro. He wondered how she was doing as he wrapped Heavy’s arm. He hoped Spy was still with her and was keeping her from doing anything stupid. He wanted to get back to her before the rest of the team had the chance to find out what happened and attack her. They accepted her gender quite nicely, save for Scout, but going crazy and causing a teammate to lose his arm… that would be harder for them to accept without having been there to see Soldier transform her into the monster that did it. Medic tied off the bandages and moved to the sink to wash his hands. 

“He’s done. He’ll need a lot of painkillers and some time to rest, but he vill be fine.” The German stated to the other two. When he had finished washing his hands and dried them off, he headed for the exit. 

“Where are you going?” Soldier asked, irritation laced into his words. 

“To see Pyro. She iz going to need attention too.” Medic said without stopping. 

“What about Heavy?” Soldier hissed. Medic chuckled as he opened the door. 

“Zat idiot had it coming. As I said, he vill be fine. I vill be back to give him some painkillers later ven he has had time to vake up. Maybe this vill teach him zat he izn’t invincible and to zink before he just charges in!” Medic said coldly and he meant every word. He left the infirmary without another word, leaving Soldier to his anger. Medic really couldn’t care less about Soldier’s opinion of him right now. He just wanted to see Pyro.


	14. Burn Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry this took so long to update! I re-wrote this chapter like 4 different times because I couldn't decide how exactly I wanted to do Pyro's backstory, but this is it. I may go back and alter a few little things later, but this is the chapter, Nothing big will be changing! Thank you for your patience! The next chapter will be out much sooner!

The next 2 days were a blur. The Administrator called for an emergency ceasefire when she heard what happened. She had been furious and came to the base herself to scold Pyro for her actions. Spy had managed to talk her into holding off on her scolding as Pyro was not even in the correct mental state to properly acknowledge the scolding. When the older woman got a look at Pyro herself, she reluctantly agreed to wait. When she left, she informed Spy that she was to be told the second Pyro has collected herself. 

Medic had stayed with Pyro since he came back to her room that day to find her a sobbing mess. Spy mostly busied himself with talking to the other teammates about what happened and keeping any anger towards her dormant for the time being. Spy would also bring Medic and Pyro food, but Pyro wouldn’t eat. She hadn’t eaten or even taken a drink since breakfast before her training that day and both Medic and Spy were more than concerned about their friend’s health. 

Medic had made a point to check on Heavy once in the morning and once at night, but they were short checkups. He was there long enough to change bandages and give the Russian some pain medicine, but that was it. He knew Heavy would somehow recuperate, especially with Engie helping him out, so he didn’t feel the need to babysit him. The Texan had took it upon himself to make a new arm for the Russian and that meant spending a lot of time with him, because of this, Engie took over primary care of Heavy. He fed the bigger man and everything in between taking measurements and building the man’s new arm. Not that Medic minded, as far as he was concerned Heavy needed this to happen; he needed to be knocked down a few pegs. Maybe the Russian would finally learn he’s not invincible and think things through for once before rushing right into something. So, when Engie said he’d take care of Heavy, Medic was more than happy to hand over his care to the shorter man.

Now, Medic sat on the edge of Pyro’s bed, brushing her hair with his fingers as she laid there, fast asleep, eyes still red and swollen from crying, and her face covered in dried up tears. He’d taken her hair out of its usual braid several hours ago. He hated seeing her like this, so weak and broken. She hadn’t said a word to him or Spy. She only moved from her bed to go to the bathroom, but since she hadn’t been eating or drinking, that was few and far between. As Medic watched the girl, she began to stir and then suddenly jumped and sat on straight, fear clouding her now wide open and red eyes. Another nightmare. She had had one every time she fell asleep since the incident. 

“Shh… It’s okay, Fräulein…” The doctor soothed, slowly wrapping her into an embrace as she relaxed. “It vas just a dream…” 

After a few seconds, Pyro wrapped her arms around the German, hugging him in return. It was the most communication he’s gotten from her in the last 48 hours and he couldn’t help but smile. 

“I’m so sorry,” He heard the girl whisper quietly, her voice hoarse and shaky from all the crying. 

“Shh… Let’s not talk about zat right now. Ve need to get you cleaned up and somezing in your belly.” The doctor shushed softly. “Alright?” 

She nods, letting her arms fall limp again. Medic let her go and gave her a pat on her head before getting up to move to her bathroom. He ran a warm bath and while the tub filled, he set out a couple of towels on the small counter next to the sink. He then moved back to her room, towards her dresser. He stops in front of the dresser and is about to grab clothes for her, but remembers then that she may not be comfortable with him going through her clothes. He lifts his head, to where he left her on the bed. She’s looking out her window, lost in her own thoughts. She looks like she wants to cry more, but doesn’t have the energy or tears left to do so. Medic frowns at the image, it hurts him to see her like this. 

“Pyro?” He asks finally. She snaps out of her daze, turning to him slowly. He gestures to her dresser. 

“Vould you like me to get your clozes?” He asks. She stares at him for a minute before nodding. He nods in return before beginning to dig through her dresser for something comfortable. He decided on a large black T-shirt that looked a couple sizes too big for her, the first pair of underwear and bra set he saw in an effort to respect her privacy, and a pair of gray gym shorts. He took the clothes to the bathroom, sitting them next to the towels on the counter. After turning off the water, he made his way back to her room. 

Pyro hadn’t moved from her spot on the bed. She was looking out her window again, but turned to Medic as he approached her. She looked up at him as he held out his hand to help her up. She took it, slowly pulling herself up and out of bed. Once standing, she let go of him and went to move to the bathroom, only to realize she was too weak to hold herself up and stumbled. Medic, of course, caught her with a frown and pulled her back up to a standing position. 

“Vould you like help?” He asked. She nods. He lets her lean on him for support, an arm around him, as they walk to the bathroom. He sets her down on the closed toilet seat before he moves to leave and give her her privacy, but as he’s about to walk through the doorway, she grabs the back of his shirt and tugs on him. Medic turns to her with a questioning look. 

“I…” she starts, then looks away, averting his gaze. Medic can’t tell if her cheeks are red from the crying or if she’s blushing. “Please, s-stay… I need your help.” She pleads, her voice soft, almost inaudible. But, Medic hears her. He can feel his face heat up, but he keeps his thoughts and feelings about the girl in the back of his mind as he nods and moves to help her undress. 

*.-.-.-.-.-.-.* 

I didn’t look at Medic the entire time. I couldn’t. He helped me undress and into the bath, tossing my suit and clothes to the side in a pile. He didn’t look at me while a washed my body. He sat on the toilet and stared at the floor while he waited for me to finish up. He only moved to look at me when I asked him to help wash my hair and back. His touch was gentle, just as it always is when he’s handling me, but it was different this time. His gentle touch is a hesitant one and I couldn’t exactly place if it was because he was nervous about being around me naked or if it was because he was scared of causing me more pain. However, knowing my Medic, it was a mixture of both things.

When I was finished, he grabbed the bigger of the two towels he had pulled out and began unfolding it. He helped me stand and get out of the tub before wrapping the large towel around me. He sat me down on the toilet and unplugged the drain before grabbing the second towel and drying my hair with it. 

“Thank you, Medic,” I manage to choke out. My throat was sore from all the crying and talking hurt now. I hated that I needed his help, but between the crying and the lack of nutrients, I’d let my body fall weak and it was currently hard to do much of anything. 

“It’s no problem, Fräulein.” He replies simply as he tosses the towel into the growing pile of laundry and throws my hair up into a wet and messy bun. After that, he helps me pull on my clothes in silence. I don’t look at him even when he’s finished. I’m embarrassed to have needed to put him in such an awkward position like that. Not only that, but it was hard for me to even think about looking at any of my teammates after what I’d done. If they hated me, and I’m sure they do, they have every right to. That being said, I not ready to see that hatred in their eyes yet. 

Medic helps me walk back to my bed and sit down. Spy walks in shortly later with mine and Medic’s breakfast. He seems to notice my wet hair and offers me a small smile. 

“I see you’re moving this morning.” The Frenchman smiles, bringing my breakfast over to me. He sits the tray down in front of me on the bed. It’s a light breakfast, some scrambled eggs, a piece of toast lightly coated in butter, a few pear slices and a glass of apple juice. 

“Try to get some of that down, ma amie. You need to get something in your stomach.” Spy says, his voice calm and soothing. They’ve both been so patient with me. I only nod to him before beginning to eat. 

“Small bites, Fräulein or everyzing vill end up right back out here.” Medic warned, beginning to work on his own breakfast. He and Spy whispered to each other about something while Medic ate. I didn’t even try to listen to them. I knew it was about the others and the Administrator wanting to talk to me. That’s what it had been every time they were talking about something. The Administrator was furious, I knew she would be, and my teammates… they had mixed emotions. Soldier of course, was beyond furious. If I made it out of my next confrontation with him, it would be a miracle. 

Once I’ve emptied my plate, I hear Spy clear his throat and I know what’s coming. 

“Pryo… If I may ask, what happened?” While I knew this question was coming, Spy’s question hits me like a rock as I recall every second of what happened during Soldier’s training session. I take a deep breath, as I try to decide how I want to explain everything to them. 

“Look at me, Fräulein,” Medic orders in the same soft voice he’d been using with me and for the first time since he had made me breakfast that morning, I dared to look into Medic’s eyes. However, where I had thought I would see pain, anger, and hatred, I instead saw pain, sorrow, and genuine concern. 

“Take your time. You don’t have to zay anyzing you don’t vant too.” Medic said in a soothing voice. I stared into his eyes a few more seconds before looking away again to collect my thoughts. I also remember that Medic and I aren’t the only ones in the room, Spy is here too and before I can speak, I need to be able to look him in the eyes as well. So, slowly, I look up into Spy’s eyes and I’m surprised to see that his are much like Medic’s. His normally sly and mysterious blue orbs are completely clouded with concern and lack of sleep. There is no hatred in them. Neither of these two men seem to have any sort of anger towards me for what happened, or they’re incredibly good at hiding how they really feel. Hiding their feelings or not, I’m grateful for them being so patient with me and showing concern. I’ll have to remember to thank them for this. 

After seeing how Spy felt, I took one last deep breath, in and out, before I spoke again. 

*.-.-.-.-.-.-.* 

Soldier stood in front of the pit where it all happened. He’d been fuming for the last 48 hours about the whole situation, but today he had been calm enough to walk out here and think about it all. He looked at the exact spot where heavy lost his arm. It was hard to miss because the dirt was completely bloodstained. No one had bothered to come out and hose the place down since it happened. Medic was too caught up in making sure Pyro didn’t lose control again, or that’s what Spy had told him anyway, Engie was busy with building a new arm for Heavy, Spy was doing some damage control with the others trying to keep anyone else from getting too mad, Heavy was well… incapacitated, and Pyro… She was too busy crying like the pathetic excuse for a human that she is. Soldier couldn’t believe that the well-oiled machine that he’d been training would do something so stupid. 

The thing that irritated Soldier the most was that Pyro never told him about who she was and that she apparently told everyone else about who she was, but didn’t trust him enough to say anything. Had he known she was a girl, he never would’ve pushed her so hard. He wouldn’t have trained her like the stone-cold Soldier he thought that she was, but instead like the woman that she actually is. He doesn’t care that she’s a woman. He cares that her mental and physical health is well taken care off. That’s not to say that he thinks a woman can’t handle what a man can, but that it takes more time and patience to do so. When Spy explained that Pyro was scared that he would react badly to her being a woman, Soldier was a little hurt if he’s being honest. The fact that Pyro thought he would be pissed at her for being a woman on the battlefield, it angered him. He guessed that the way he lost his temper over some things was the cause of that, but still, he couldn’t quite pinpoint why it was so important to her that she hide her identity so actively like that from her teammates.

Soldier hopped down into the pit, thinking over everything that happened. The remembered the way Pyro moved and acted when the noises came on. All the signs that she was struggling were there. The way she was grasping at her mask, how she tried to make herself smaller by sinking to the ground, and how she was shaking slightly. Soldier knew these were bad signs, but he still pushed Pyro to continue and try to overcome something that she obviously wasn’t going to overcome on such short notice. So, in a way, it was partially his fault that Heavy had lost an arm, but it was also still largely Pyro’s fault. If she knew that she had this problem, she should’ve been working on how to stop it or at least control it better, so why didn’t she? 

That’s all Soldier could think about as he cleaned up the pit? Why was Pyro such a mess and why was she so focused on hiding her identity? After scolding her about what she did, he would be sure to try and get to the bottom of it all. That is, if she ever leaves her room again. 

*.-.-.-.-.-.-.* 

“It all started twelve years ago.” I sighed as I reached over and removed an old newspaper from the drawer of my nightstand. I looked over cover story, staring at the picture of house engulfed in flames, a house I used to call home once upon a time. I’d read this article a million times since it was written, but it never got easier to read. After a few seconds of staring at the article and the picture that went along with it, I handed it to Medic. 

He took the paper from me and immediately began reading the article from 12 years ago about a little 8 year old girl burned down her home, killing her mother and unborn sibling in the process. I looked out the window, staring out at the open desert while they read. After a couple of minutes, I decided to continue. 

“Hard to believe a little eight year old girl cause all that damage and heartache, huh?” I started, feeling my eyes fill with tears again. 

“I was born a pyromaniac. It sort of ran in the family on my mom’s side. My grandfather was one and so was my mom, but she wasn’t nearly as bad as my grandfather and I. My grandfather, Pop Pop, every summer since I was 2, would take us out camping right by this huge lake and he would make this huge bonfire out on the water. I mean this bonfire was massive.” I explained, opening my arms up wide to explain the size of the fire. Medic and Spy had put the news article down when they heard me start talking and were now completely focused on me. 

“He did this to… ‘scratch the itch.’ It was how he calmed the pyromaniac inside of him. He loved seeing how big he could make the fires on these bamboo rafts that he’d make beforehand. He’d build the wood pile on the raft, trying to make it as big as possible with tree sap, dead pine needles, dry leaves that he’d been holding onto since fall, and anything else he’d found that would burn nicely. Then he’d drench the pile in lighter fluid and push the raft out into the water. While the raft was drifting out he quickly toss a lit match into it and laugh as the entire thing burst into flames.” I smiled a little at the memories of my grandfather’s laugh. 

“Then, when I came along, it helped keep my urge to make fires under control too, so he starting taking my whole family with him when I was 2. For the next 5 years, my pyromania would remain tame. But when I turned 8, my grandfather passed away before taking us on the camping trip. My father promised that we would go camping still that summer and that he would show me how to make a fire there so that I could continue keeping my pyromania under control.” I stopped and glared at my blanket for a moment, imagining my father’s face. “We never went.” 

“And you didn’t get a chance to settle your ‘pyromania.’” Spy stated with a sad sigh. 

“Pyromania iz just a buildup of stress, correct?” Medic asks, trying to understand.

“And then relieving that stress through setting fires to things, yes.” I tell him. 

“Zen, you ver stressed a lot zen?” Medic continues. I nod in response. 

“My father was… very strict. He liked the idea of ‘perfect children’ and if we weren’t perfect or at least close to it, he would yell and scream and punish us until we were. He especially hated me because of my Pyromania… So, yes. I was stressed a lot.” I answered, frowning at the memory. 

“But, he was okay with your mother’s pyromania?” Spy asked, his voice hinting at disgust for my father. 

“As I said, her pyromania wasn’t as bad as mine. She could settle her pyromania simply by lighting a piece of paper on fire in the sink and watch it burn. Her pyromania wasn’t completely ‘weird.’ When I was 2 I got a hold of some matches and burned his favorite shirts. That’s what prompted him to get my Grandfather to start taking us all on those camping trips with him. Then his ‘perfect’ daughter could be ‘normal’ for the rest of the year.” I explained to Spy. His disgust only becoming more evident on his masked face. 

“Still sounds like an asshole if you ask me.” Spy muttered when I finished as he crossed his arms across his chest. 

“Anyway… The urge became too much for me around fall time. So, one night, I took my dad’s propane tank, the emergency flare gun he kept in the garage for when he went out on his boat, and the last couple of matches we had and I went out in the backyard. I’d seen propane tanks make some pretty fires when they got too heated, I thought that would be the easiest way to make the fire I needed to settle down the urges for a while. I made a circle of dry leaves and sticks around the propane tank, lit the two matches we had, and tossed them into the circle of sticks. Before the fire had a chance to really catch, I began slowly letting the gas out of the tank. Then I ran behind our shed and as the fire started in the wood pile, I shot the flare gun at the propane tank and ducked back behind the shed. There was a loud boom and I heard a couple of pieces of the tank hit the shed. When I thought it was okay to go watch the fire, I moved out from behind the shed and watched as the back deck to our house began to catch fire.” As I told the story, more tears made their way down my face again, not a lot, but enough to leave a few more streaks down my cheek. Medic stands up and grabs a tissue from the box on my dresser. He returns to wipe the tears from my face as gently as ever. I took a few minutes to calm down again before continuing. 

“I would’ve stopped it if I could, but it’s like the sudden rush of relief that I got from the fire… it just consumed me and I couldn’t make myself put it out.” I pause. “My father told them I was crazy, that I needed therapy and treatment. He had them send me to a mental hospital of sorts. There, I went to therapy every day for 4 hours to talk about what I’d done and how my ‘urges’ needed to stop. Every day they just kept picking at me and while they thought they were helping, they were just making everything worse. All they did was stress me out more and more by shoving that housefire and my mother’s death down my throat.” I paused to take a drink of my apple juice. My throat was still raw from all the crying I’d been doing and all of the talking I’d been doing was really starting to hurt. 

“Anyway, the added stress continued to build up inside of me and I tried so hard to keep it tame until one day I just completely snapped. When they brought me in for therapy, there were 10 people there, each of them wanting to try some other way of conditioning me to not want to play with fire. The problem was, they all decided to try their tactic on me at the same time. One tried getting me to listen to music, one tried to get me to teach me to use drums as a relief system, another tried singing, and another thought reading stories to me would help and it all just ended up turning into a bunch of loud obnoxious noises. I went into sensory overload and… I lost it. I grabbed the closest man too me by his throat, pinned him his too a wall and burned his entire face with a lighter I’d managed to steal. The others tried to stop me, but I just kicked them or burned them too when they tried to pull me away.” I finished my story with a sigh. Medic and Spy looked too each other before they each took a seat on either side of me. Spy held my hand and Medic pulled me in for a hug.  
“That’s why I stay away from loud noises. They cause this sensory overload in my brain and the stress becomes too much and… I turn into a monster, a dangerous monster.” I choke out as more tears crawl down my face. “They said I got that way because they talked about what I did too much and it caused me to snap, but it was just the stress… it was never about what I did…” My voice began to shake as I took in the memory. 

“Shhh… it’s alright, Fräulein.” Medic cooed. “Zat vasn’t your fault. Zose Dummkopfs had no idea vat zey vere doing.” 

Spy enclosed my hands in his, giving them a gentle squeeze. 

“You knew that you would lose control, that’s why you were scared when we turned on all ze noises.” Spy thought out loud. 

“Und vhy you vent zo far as to take off your mask in front of herr Soldier. You didn’t vant anyvon to get hurt.” Medic continued Spy’s thought. I nodded in response. 

“After that they put me in the care of the military. They figured they could train me to be of use in the pyrotechnics department. I was sort of a secret project though. As far as the public knows, I’m still in that mental hospital. My dad and brother are the only ones who know I went to the military. Then after 12 years of that, the administrator contacted the military, said she was looking for a specialist in Pyrotechnics, promised that no one would find out I’m here, and well… here I am.” I took another sip of my apple juice as I finished talking. My throat was killing me and I was starting to sound like I’d been smoking for 40 years. 

Spy and Medic remained silent for a while. They eventually got up from the bed and began cleaning up. I assumed they were thinking, taking in everything I had said. They exchanged a few looks between each other as though they were having a conversation with each other in their minds and every now and then they would take a glance at me. The silence was welcomed though. It was calming. Finally, after what felt like a good hour, Medic speaks up. 

“I zink herr Spy and I need to explain zis to ze ozers.” Medic states. “Zey are upset and zey vant to know vat happened too.” 

“They hate me, don’t they?” I sighed, turning to look back out the window. 

“No, they are just upset and confused. I’m sure after we explain things, they’ll understand, ma amie.” Spy argues. “Are you okay with us telling them?”  
I stare outside as I think it over. They’re either going to hate me forever or accept me and work to begin liking me again if Spy and Medic tell them everything. However, if they didn’t say anything, the others would surely hate me forever. I didn’t like the sound of that, so there was really only one thing to do. 

“You guys know that the person who hurt Heavy… that wasn’t me, right?” I asked. 

“Of course,” They answer in unison. 

“Zat vas a completely different person.” Medic continues. “Und ve know zat, but zey don’t. Not yet.” 

“Alright… then I would be thankful if you told them.” I say with an exhale. They nod to me, ask if I need anything while they’re gone and then they left to tell the others everything I had told them. I stayed in my bed and stared out my window, hoping that the others would forgive me and let me stay, because despite everything… I’ve never felt more at home.


	15. Through Fire and Water

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note:
> 
> Hey guys! What's up? Long time no update!
> 
> I know, I know. I suck, but college is one hell of a time and it's really been a roller coaster for me. I won't lie when I say that I haven't been as motivated to update. However, since I just went through a bad, but good for me, break-up, I have lots of time to spare. Soooo, I've gotten back into gaming and TF2 happens to be one of the games I'm really getting back into, so I should be updating more regularly. However, please don't hate me if I don't update for a while. I'm really struggling over here, but I'm trying, I promise.
> 
> That being said, I'm also working on several other fanfictions, so if you do like The Spark on the Battlefield, be on the look out for those. They're not all TF2 based, but if its a fandom you enjoy, please take a look. Some of the fandoms I'll be tapping into are Borderlands, Jak and Daxter, and Skyrim. I'm also working a the plot for a sequel to Spark on the Battlefield for when I finish it.
> 
> So, besides the updates for this story, you can look forward to those as well.
> 
> Also, if you guys could drop a comment or shoot me a message or make me some fanart or something for this story just to let me know you're still interested, I would love that and it would seriously help with pumping out these chapters. (You don't have to though and I'm still going to continue the story if you don't, it would just make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.)
> 
> I would also like to take this time to thank everyone who's stuck around for this long, even though I've been a terrible author and haven't updated in literally forever. You guys are the best and I love you with every fiber of my being. 
> 
> Okay, enough from me. Enjoy the chapter!
> 
> OfficerGiraffe

I was left to my own thoughts for a few hours after Medic and Spy left, but it wasn’t long until I had someone knocking on my door. 

“Come in,” I called as loudly as I could, but I sounded horrible. 

What tore my attention away from the window was the undeniable smell of cigarettes. I knew it wasn’t Spy, Spy would’ve announced himself. There was only one other person I knew of who smoked as much as he did. Slowly, I turned my attention to the Administrator and Miss Pauling. Miss Pauling’s face was bland as she stared at her clipboard. She didn’t look as though she really wanted to be here, but the Administrator… She was pissed. 

“Pyro,” The older woman spat. Oh boy… If I didn’t lose my job today, I would be surprised. 

“Hello,” I responded as kindly as I could with my voice as hoarse as it was. 

“I’m well aware of your past, however your actions in the past 72 hours have been completely unacceptable.” The woman hissed, her words laced with venom. She wasn’t happy in the slightest. 

“If I had my way about it, you’d be fired on the spot. Fortunately for you, my boss has decided that you’re a valuable asset to the company, with some convincing from Soldier and Miss Pauling.” The older announcer seemed to calm herself to a more disgusted tone than angry while she spoke. I allowed myself to relax a bit, knowing that I wasn’t going to be fired. Something that confused me though was why Pauling and Soldier would've convinced Administrator to let me stay. Soldier could've and probably did it so he could kill me himself, but I can't imagine why Pauling would want me to stay. What could she possibly have to gain from me staying here? 

“However, I will not allow this incident to go without punishment. Until further notice, you are suspended from performing in missions starting today. While suspended, you will partake in strict training overseen by Soldier,” The Administrator was firm in her orders, which snapped me back from my thoughts. Though, I had to wonder how much stricter my training could get with Soldier. I’m pretty sure he already put me through hell. Was there something worse than hell? 

“But, who will be taking my place? My team can’t go without a pyro, ma’am.” I asked. I deserved to be punished, no denying that, but I didn’t want her to punish my team too. The Administrator waved her hand towards Miss. Pauling, who finally looked up from her clipboard long enough to offer me a small smile. 

“Miss. Pauling will be taking your place as the team’s Pyro until further notice. We can’t afford to hire a temp, so she will cover for you until you get your act together.” The Administrator stated with a slight hiss to her words. I nodded, trying not to let her tone affect me too much. 

"Miss. Pauling, ma'am? Please don't take this the wrong way, but if Miss. Pauling can take on the pyro role so readily, why not just hire her instead of going through the trouble to hire me?" I asked. 

"Miss. Pauling is needed for more important tasks than running around torching people all day. She is normally needed to assist with administrative duties, however, since she's also well trained in combat, she can take over for mercenaries, briefly, while they're out of commission." The Administrator sighed, as though this was common knowledge that I should've known already. 

“I promise I’ll do my best to fill your shoes. I won’t let the team down!” Miss Pauling stated proudly, raising her right hand in a mock promise. 

“Please don’t. They deserve more than myself, but until I’m the teammate they deserve, I would really appreciate you taking over. Thank you.” My words were sincere. I did mean what I said, but I couldn’t help the tinge of jealousy that pulled at my heartstrings. The Administrator cleared her throat as she lit what I could only assume to be her 50th cigarette that day. She took a couple of puffs before speaking again. 

“Miss. Pauling will temporarily be moving into the Red base so that she can bond with the team and have easy access to the spawn rooms. She will be moved to the room on the other side of your bathroom and eventually an additional door will be added. The two of you will share the bathroom so as to not have to worry about the men. Are we clear?” 

“Crystal, ma’am.” 

The Administrator took another puff of her cigarette and then excused herself and Miss Pauling so that they could get her settled in. They both did wish me a fast recovery though. As if I needed a fast recovery. Honestly, I probably deserved to sit in this pool of guilt and self-hatred for much, much longer than I already have. The one who needed wishing was Heavy. 

I wanted so badly to know how he was doing. I had to know. He was my first friend here. I’ll never forgive myself for hurting him. I needed to find someway to help him. 

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_* 

Other than the Administrator’s appearance, I had no new guests for the next 3 days. Medic and Spy were my only visitors, and when they were there, they were stuffing food and fluids into me. However, today, I felt strong enough to move and I was ready to. 

The cease-fire was still on-going and Medic told me that until Heavy healed up enough, the cease-fire would remain active. Since I’m still not strong enough for Soldier to run me into the ground, I’ve decided that I’m going to make use of my time by checking on Heavy. It was time I faced him. 

After throwing on one of my black form-fitting long-sleeve shirts and a pair of sweatpants, I left the room, making my way to the infirmary. 

I’ve never felt so alone in this building. Neither Medic, nor Spy, wanted me to leave the room today, so I snuck out while they weren’t there. They’d probably yell at me for it later, but I’ll deal with it then. However, since I left without them, neither of them were there and for some reason, I felt more alone than I had before walking through these hallways. To distract myself, I began thinking about my suspension. 

I’m not happy with it, of course. I hate the idea of not being on the field to help my team, but Administrator did the right thing. Especially seeing as how I haven’t been too much help to them recently anyway. Miss Pauling would definitely do a better job than me right now. I’m thankful that she’ll be there to support my team while I can’t. That being said, I want to get better. I know I can be a teammate that they deserve, but not right now. Until I get rid of or learn to tame that damn sensory overload of mine, I was going to have to step away from my team. 

Even though I know he’s going to rip me to shreds when I see him, I’m glad that Soldier is training me. I’m still pissed at him for the whole “facing my fears” thing because we wouldn’t be in this position if he had just listened to me, but he was a good coach. I’m a million times stronger than I’ve ever been and that’s all thanks to him. If he can figure out how to solve my mental problems, I’d owe him all the favors in the world. I do wonder what exactly he’s going to do to me when I see him though. I imagine there’ll be a lot, and I mean a lot, of screaming and laps… and push-ups… and drills. If there is a god out there, may he help me not die. 

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_* 

While I was thinking about the very possible death that I may meet when I see Soldier, I found myself in front of the infirmary doors and suddenly, the thought of going in, seeing Heavy, made me nauseous. I took a couple of deep breathes and gently pushed the doors open. 

To my surprise I found Engineer sitting by Heavy's bedside. He was tinkering with something metal in front of him. Heavy seemed to be out cold, not even flinching at my entrance. Engie, however, looked up at me as soon as he heard the door softly close. I couldn't read his expression. He seemed surprised, but also sad, angry, and maybe even a bit conflicted. 

"Medic isn't here, Py." The shorter man said, his voice almost mechanic. It was like he was trying to hide his thoughts from me. I shifted slightly, not sure if I should move closer or not. 

"I didn't come for Medic," I stated, pausing to look at Heavy. "I came to see Heavy." 

"He's sleeping. Painkillers have him knocked out, cold." Engie responded, not looking up from what he was doing. 

"Oh..." I almost whispered as the room fell into an awkward silence. 

After what felt like an eternity of me just standing there, I decided that maybe I should come back another time and turned to leave. 

"Are you sorry?" 

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_* 

Engie stared at his teammate. She froze at his question. Perhaps she wasn't expecting him to say anything else. 

"More than I've ever been sorry about anything," The girl spoke quietly, turning back towards Engie. "I wish I could take it back." 

Engie looked her over. She was quite muscular for a girl her size, but he supposed that came from all the training Soldier had been putting her through. Despite her muscular frame, however, she looked empty, like a shell. She didn't have a bit of life radiating off that small frame of hers. Engie could tell she'd been beating herself up. Everything from the dark circles and slight swelling under her eyes, to the empty gray rings of her eyes. Engie guessed that all she was able to do was think about what she'd done. Poor girl. 

He was there when it happened of course. He remembered her terrified voice as she screamed for Soldier to turn everything off. She knew something was wrong, but none of them listened. After hearing her story from Medic, he was sympathetic for the girl. He knew she didn't mean it, doesn't excuse her completely, but the incident was not entirely her fault. They, the monitors should've had more control. He wasn't mad at her, he was mad that they weren't better prepared. 

"Well. Accidents happen. I'm sure Heavy understands that too." The mechanic finally said. He tried to add some light into his voice that time for her. Pyro continued to look at him as he went back to his work. Engie assumed that she would continue leaving. 

"What are you doing?" The girl asked. Engie gave her a glance before smiling down at all the pieces of metal sitting in front of him. 

"Buildin'. Actually, you're good with fire, you could really help me out here. C'mere." The mechanic ordered. Engie pulled over the other seat in the room next to him as Pyro made her way over. Engie watched her face as she sat down, staring at the pieces of metal in front of her. 

"You're building him a new arm," She said, a smile creeping across her face. "like a prosthetic!" Engie chuckled at the girl's excitement. He imagined she would've been happy to know Heavy wasn't completely out of commission. 

"But better, much better. When I'm done, this arm of his is gonna make'im 10 times stronger!" Engie beamed. He frowned, however, when he noticed Pyro's smile leaving her face. 

"But it won't be his arm... Won't it still be weird?" She asked. Engie sighed and took off his right glove, showing Pyro his gunslinger. The girl's eyes widened at the sight. 

"I'm so sorry... I didn't mean it like tha-" She started, but Engie stopped her. 

"It's alright. I know what you meant. It's not that unusual after a while. He'll get used to it. It won't be his real arm, but..." Engie started, looking over his own robotic appendage. He smiled slightly as he clenched his metal hand into a fist. "He'll learn ta’ love it like it was. Knowin Heavy, he'll prefer the stronger arm anyways." Engie laughed. 

"What happened to your hand?" Pyro asked, curiosity taking a hold on her. Engie chuckled to himself. 

"Lost it while buildin' ma sentry! Damn thing pulled my hand right in with the ammo the first time I ever powered her up! I was adjustin’ the ammo in the slot so it'd fire right, and next thing I knew my hand was being pulled right in with it. Grinded it up real bad. Had Medic take it off right then and there." Engie said, amusement in his voice. He thought the whole situation had been some funny twist of fate. The mechanic, the one who's supposed to be careful and know the dangers of working with things is the one who got his hand cut off by the machinery. 

"Did you build it yourself?" 

"Well. Yes, but no. I actually built it for me, but it was my grandfather who designed it." Engie said with a smile. "But enough about that! C'mon. We gotta finish this. I'm almost done. Ya see these metal pieces?" The southerner asked, pointing to the scattered pieces of metal on the table in front of them. Pyro nodded. 

"Take this blow torch and mask and CAREFULLY, weld these pieces together, followin' these blue prints." Engie ordered, showing Pyro exactly which pieces needed to be welded together according to the blue prints that were under the pieces. 

"But... Aren't there explosive things in here? This is the infirmary and I REALLY don't want to be responsible for anymore injuries." Pyro said with a slight nervous laughed. 

"Nah. I had Medic remove those things yesterday. Heavy doesn't need any of that, so I set up shop in here. It was easier for me to take measurements and all with'im right here." Engie explained. His voice was calm, serene even. Engie appreciated that she was being so careful. He knew that Pyro wasn't capable of being reckless, not without some incentive. He was glad that she was proving him right. As far as he could tell, Pyro wasn't the one that hurt Heavy. That was a completely different person. 

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_* 

After Engie had assured me that it was safe to use the blow torch in the room, I put on the welding mask and set to work carefully welding the metals together that he told me to. In the process, I discovered that I'm particularly good at welding. I was so precise that you could hardly see where I had welded the pieces together. Not that it mattered much because Engie painted over everything, so it wouldn't have been very noticeable anyway, but I was proud. Engie even commented on my work, saying he couldn't have done better himself. I was proud. The arm was looking great too. My part was done, now Engie was doing the wiring and setting it all up. 

"The others hate me, don't they?" I asked quietly, my voice almost a whisper. Engie paused for a second upon hearing the question but went back to working as he responded. 

"Scout, yes, but I don't think he was too fond of you before, Darlin'. That string bean ain't too happy about knowing a girl is equal to him, if not better, on the battlefield. Rubs him the wrong way." Engie explained. "You more or less gave him another reason to whine about you being on the field." 

I couldn't help the sigh that left my lips upon hearing that. I don't really care for Scout. I see why Spy despises him so much, but I still hated that my teammate didn't like me. 

"And the others?" I forced myself to ask. I didn't want to know, but I needed to know, and Medic and Spy wouldn't tell me. "Be honest." 

"Well, Demo seems to be upset about the situation, but less angry and more concerned. He's drunk all the time, but he does care about us. He seems to just be concerned about how you and heavy are doin'." Engie began. He didn't stop working on Heavy at all. He remained concentrated on what he was doing with the wires while he spoke. 

"Scout, I already told you. Medic, Spy, and I were there. We know better, but we of course are worried about you both. Sniper doesn't really seem to care. He keeps to himself and keeps his emotions pretty well hidden, so if he is angry, I haven't noticed." Engie continued but acted as though that was all he was going to say on the subject. 

"And... Soldier?" I questioned, already knowing the answer. 

"Do I really need to answer that Darlin'? He ain't happy." Engie sighed. It was a sigh that was both tired and frustrated, like he disagreed with how Soldier felt, but couldn't blame him either. 

"I figured, but I figured there was no harm in asking." I shrugged. "When I saw how angry the Administrator was... well. I figured Soldier was about a million times worse." 

"Yeah, I heard about the suspension. Soldier told us everything last night. So, Pauling is really taking your place for now?" Engie asked, he seemed confused by the idea. 

"I guess so." 

"And how do you feel about that?" The southerner questioned as he began messing with the last of the wiring. 

"Honestly? Angry, Jealous, confused... I just don't get why they'd use Pauling." I sighed. Engie stopped to look me over for a second before going back to work. 

"I hear she used to work in Pyrotechnics, but then, I've heard that she's worked in many of our fields before. Don't know how much is true though. And I suppose our line of work is pretty..." He paused to think about what he wanted to say, "confidential. Probably don't want anyone in here who doesn’t need to be or won't be staying for long." 

“I guess you’re right.” I sighed. It didn’t make me any less upset about the situation. Engie offered me a sideways glance at words. Something about me must’ve struck him though because he stopped working completely to face me as he spoke. 

“She won’t replace you forever, Py. She may have background in it and she may be good at what she does, but she can’t replace you. We’ve already warmed up to you too much for that. We wouldn’t let that happen. Once Soldier says you’re ready, we’ll kick her out quick.” Engie was firm, but sweet with his words. I’d never heard him talk in this tone before, but it gave me some comfort that I appreciated. I offered him a small smile. 

“Thanks, Engie.” I said as I pulled him into a hug. To my surprise he returned it without hesitation. 

“Anytime Py.” Engie said as when we pulled out of the hug. “Now, we gotta arm ta’ finish!”


	16. Hold Your Fire

It was another 2 days before Heavy’s arm was ready. I went down to help Engie whenever I could, but Heavy was always asleep when I was there. Engie didn’t want Heavy to know about what he was working on, he wanted it to be a surprise. So, he worked while Heavy slept and while Heavy was awake, Engie would hide everything, including the piece that was in the remaining portion of Heavy’s real arm that would attach the new arm to him. Engie would cover that up with bandages so Heavy never knew. 

Engie told me that Heavy would spend a good portion of his time awake staring at the ghost of his old arm, trying to move it. Were it not for Medic’s medigun, Heavy wouldn’t have been healed enough for Engie to have done the work on him that he has, nor would he be able to move what’s left of his arm because the pain would be too great. For this, I was glad that we had this weird speed healing technology. I was glad that Heavy didn’t have to suffer so long for something I’d done. It might’ve still taken a week for him to heal, but he’d healed much faster than anyone outside of this facility would have. 

I did get to see Demo and Sniper while I was heading back to my room one night. Neither seemed too mad at me, they just wanted to know how I was doing, just like Engie said. I had a small conversation with them before heading to bed. I took comfort in knowing they weren’t ready to kill me for hurting their friend. 

Tonight though, 7 days after the incident, Engie and I had completed Heavy’s arm. It was nice, making the arm with Engie. I hadn’t really been able to bond with him much before because of the mask, but he’s actually a great person to talk to. He’s a great listener and always talks in a calm voice. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with him, but more importantly, I’m thrilled that Heavy has a new arm. 

“When are you going to show him?” I asked as we hid the arm and the blueprints in the closet of the infirmary. 

“Well, I was thinkin’ tonight at supper.” Engie said with a smile. He hadn’t been able to shake that smile since he had finished building the arm. “Medic cleared him to leave today. Sleep in his own bed n’ what not.” 

Something about this made me pause. Heavy was going to be awake and eating dinner with the rest of the team. He was finally going to wake up and talk to the rest of the team. They would hear his side of the story. I still didn’t know how Heavy felt about the whole incident. Engie said Heavy didn’t talk about it much, but he hadn’t spoken to me yet. Engie must’ve seen the fear on my face because suddenly, I felt his hand on my shoulder. 

“It’ll be alright, Py. I know Heavy n’ he ain’t the kind of person ta hate someone.” Engie stated, his voice calm and collected. 

“But you haven’t seen Heavy react to someone literally cutting off his arm before.” I sighed. I looked over at the sleeping man. He’d be leaving today. I needed to be here when he woke up. I needed to see him. If he wanted to hate me, I couldn’t stop him, but I wanted to know how he felt before he had the influence of anyone else altering his opinion. 

“I’m going to stay here, if that’s okay. I want to be here when Heavy wakes up.” I said softly, walking back over to Heavy’s bedside. Engie watched me as I walked back over, I could feel his eyes on me the whole time. 

“Alright, darlin’, I won’t stop you. I’ll stay with you.” Engie stated, making his way over to my side. 

“You don’t have to. I’m sure you’d like to clean up before dinner.” I offered. I didn’t want Engie to feel like he had to babysit me. Medic and Spy already did that enough. 

Engie stared at me for a moment, studying my face, like he was looking for confirmation that I would be alright.

“Alright. I’m gonna go clean up. Doc should be here soon to wake Heavy up.” Engie stated. 

“Thanks Engi.” 

*_*_*_*_*_*_*

It was about 2 hours before Medic came in to wake up Heavy. In that time, I caught myself staring at him, trying to find the words to say to him when he wakes up, but I still wasn’t sure what I was going to say when Medic finally walked in. 

“You’re still here Frauline?” Medic asked softly as he moved about the infirmary, grabbing the equipment that he would need in order to wake Heavy. 

“Yeah…” I started, my voice almost a whisper as I stared at Heavy’s peaceful sleeping features. I have to say, I was excited to hear his voice again, even if it was him telling me to leave. 

“I wanted to be here when he wakes up. I think I should be.” 

Medic looked me over thoughtfully before focusing on filling a syringe with some kind of chemical. 

“Well, I vill be here if you need me.” The doctor stated, offering me a smile as he flicked the syringe to make sure all the air was out. He then brought the syringe up to Heavy’s good arm and hovered. 

“Are you ready, Frauline?” he asked, looking at me for a moment. I nodded in response, moving next to him. Medic then turned back to what he was doing and stuck Heavy’s vein with the needle. Once the chemical had been injected into the bigger man’s arm, he removed the needle and stepped aside. 

I took Medic’s place as he moved, taking Heavy’s massive hand into both of my own as I watched his face. I took a few moments, but Heavy’s eyes started to flutter open. At this, I felt my eyes welling up with tears.

“Eazy Herr Heavy. You should know zis by now.” Medic pushed as he pressed Heavy back down on the bed. I didn’t even realize that he’d been trying to sit up I was so concentrated on his face.

“Water.” Heavy’s voice was raspy and dry. It was barely his voice at all. Medic held up a small cup to Heavy’s mouth and allowed him to take small sips. It was in the middle of his drink that Heavy fully opened his eyes and locked gazes with me. 

Slowly, Heavy pushed Medic and the cup away, his eyes never leaving mine as he did. He slowly sat up and when he struggled, Medic and I both jumped in to help, putting a hand each on his back for support. Once he was sitting up, Heavy continued to stare at me, his hand slowly, and gently, squeezing my hand that had remained in his. 

“Pyro?” Heavy asked, his voice in shock but still raspy. I need nodded slowly in response. 

“Yes, Heavy. It’s me.” I said, tears flooding my voice. Heavy then pulled me into a hug with his one good arm. 

“Is leetle fire girl okay?” The big man asked quietly as he embraced me. With that I let the tears finally fall as I hugged him back. Heavy had lost an arm because of me, but the first thing he thought to do when he saw me was make sure I was okay. Of all the things that he could’ve said to me, that was the last thing that I expected. 

“I’m so sorry, Heavy. I’m so sorry.” I cried. 

*_*_*_*_*_*

Heavy held Pyro for a while after he’d first hugged her. He let her cry and apologize until she didn’t have the voice or the tears to spare anymore. He had no idea how bad she’d been hurting over him. 

Meanwhile, Heavy had been blaming himself for losing his arm. He didn’t listen when Pyro warned him to stay away, so he got what was coming to him as far as he was concerned. Granted, he didn’t expect the girl to be so strong, strong enough to hold him down like that, but he shouldn’t have under estimated her like that. 

All this time, Pyro had been beating herself up over him, when in reality, it wasn’t just her fault that it had happened. Nothing upset Heavy more than that. He had begun to see Pyro as one of his own sisters with the way she regarded him and vice versa. Every time that she had gotten hurt, he’d felt her pain and swore revenge on the Blu Spy. Every time that she had accomplished something, he felt proud to be able to say they were friends. Her strength reminded him of his sisters, physically and mentally. If Pyro had been a normal person, she wouldn’t have stepped foot in those arenas after the first time Spy had attacked her, but she continued on anyway. For that, Heavy held her in high regards, that and she was also a good friend and skilled comrade on the field. 

Heavy had never seen fear like that of Pyro’s the day he lost his arm. All he wanted was to protect her, from the saws, and from whatever was going on in her own head. That’s why he had disregarded her warning, he was more concerned for her safety than his own. He would’ve done the same for his sisters and Pyro was no different from them. 

Even now, all Heavy wanted to do was protect her from herself. He wanted to help, but he wasn’t sure how just yet. He knew she was scared, but only Soldier would really know how to help her. All Heavy could do was hold her for now and assure her that he wasn’t mad. He just wanted her to be okay. 

It wasn’t until Heavy heard a small sniffle from the small girl that he was brought back to earth from his thoughts. Pyro had finally stopped crying but was still clinging to him as if she was scared he was going to leave or suddenly get angry with her. It was then that he decided it was time for him to talk. Slowly, he pulled away, but he moved his hand to her shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze as he spoke.

“You must not cry anymore. This,” Heavy motioned to his missing arm with his head, “is not your fault.” 

Pyro shook her head as she wiped the last of her tears from her face. 

“But it is Heavy. If I had just had more control, you would’ve been fine. You’d still have your arm.” The small girl cried. Though she wasn’t actually crying anymore, her voice was still shaky as if she were.

“I zink vat herr Heavy meant iz zat it’s not just your fault, Frauline.” Medic stepped in. It took everything in his power to not pull her away from Heavy and hold her himself while she cried. But, he knew they both needed that time. He just hated seeing her like this. 

Heavy took note of the doctor’s concerned look. He hadn’t missed Medic’s slight jealousy in his eyes as he watched Heavy hold Pyro, nor had he missed how Medic’s eye softened when he looked at the girl. He’d have to remember to talk to the doctor about it later. Pyro was in no condition to have to worry about the loving feelings of others, and no one was going to be involved with her without him knowing about it first. 

“Dah. Was everyone’s fault.” Heavy agreed, refocusing on the small girl. 

When Pyro didn’t seem convinced, Medic felt the need to explain. 

“It’s your fault for not being in control, but iz our fault for alzo not having more control und listening to you.” Medic explained. 

Pyro went to argue but Heavy shushed her by putting a finger in front of her mouth. She turned to him, looking into his eyes with her own red and swollen ones. 

“No argue. Stop blaming self.” Heavy said softly. “Am still Heavy. I can still breath and talk. Even if can’t use Natasha anymore, I am alive. So, stop blaming and hurting self.” Heavy assured. As far as he was concerned, as long as everyone was okay, so was he. 

Pyro stared at him for a few moments before softly pushing the man’s hand away from her face and nodding to him. This caused the bigger man to smile and give her another small hug. 

*_*_*_*_*_*

“You are coming to dinner?” Heavy asked. I stayed silent, not answering. After Heavy had convinced me for the time being to stop being so hard on myself, Medic and I worked on helping him stand and walk around until dinner time. It took him a bit to find his strength again after being bed ridden for so long, but he managed and was back to his normal self, more or less. 

“I don’t know, Heavy. I don’t know that I’m ready to face scout and Soldier again yet.” I managed to get out. Heavy frowned at this. 

“I have never heard of Pyro being coward like Scout. Why is start now?” Heavy challenged. I didn’t really have an answer for him though. He was right, I was being a coward, but I was scared. I hated it, but everything scared me right now. Heavy’s frown deepened, and he shook his head. 

“Nyet. Fire woman will come to dinner. We go together.” Heavy stated, not giving me much of choice. He then held out his good arm for me to hold. I glanced at Medic, pleading for help. 

“Nienm Frauline. Heavy’s right. It’s time.” Medic sighed. I could tell that even he was struggling with the idea of me facing the whole team at once, but like Heavy, knew it was right. I sighed, defeated, and linked my arm with Heavy’s. Heavy offered me a warm smile.

“It will be okay.” Heavy encouraged, as he began walking with me. 

*_*_*_*_*_*_*

Medic watched with sad eyes as the two left the infirmary. He wished he could protect her, keep her away from the things and people that could and would hurt her. However, he also knew that in this line of work, she had to face those things head on in order to get better and stronger. He would just have to watch from the sidelines and be ready to help when it all got to be too much for her. 

It bothered him that he cared this much. Normally, he didn’t care about anyone or anything, as long as he was getting paid and could continue his work, but with her, it was different. 

He knew that he had been developing some feelings for the girl, but he didn’t realize how fast he was developing them, nor how strong they were. He had promised himself that he wouldn’t do this to himself again, it was a big part of why he took this job. He didn’t have to be around people at much, he was secluded to the 8 other teammates and that was it. It was easy to shut himself out from 8 people. Feelings only led to pain and he was much happier keeping to himself and his work, away from all the emotions. 

But, even as he thought this, he found himself chasing after Heavy and Pyro. He wanted to be there, ready to jump in if Scout or Soldier started to take things too far. He knew he was going to end up getting hurt, but he couldn’t stop the feelings. He knew that. 

*_*_*_*_*_*

“The big guy isn’t coming to dinner again, huh?” Scout asked aloud to his teammates. Well, the 4 that were there anyways. Sniper and Demo shrugged, but otherwise ignored him. Spy completely ignored him. 

“It’s still early. Medic said he would be up and moving tonight. Give him some time.” Soldier stated. Scout rolled his eyes. 

“Ya know, this is crap! We shouldn’t even be in this situation.” Scout complained. Spy glared at the boy, but Demo was the one that stepped up. 

“Aye, and I shouldn’t ‘ave ta listen to yer complainin’ all the time either. But, we can’t all get what we want.” The Scottish man stated. 

“Yea, lay off would ya? Damn Scoot. All you’ve done is complain for the past week.” Sniper added in. Scout growled and glared at the two of them. 

“Why shouldn’t I? That damn Pyro ruined one of our best members! Minus, yours truly of course.” Scout argued. “And she’s not even fired! What crap is that?” 

Suddenly, Engie stepped in from the hall and slammed his fist on the table. It was loud and powerful enough to make all the men jump, including Soldier, who had been watching him when the shorter man did it. 

“Now that’s enough. Pyro might’ve messed up, but at least she’s owned up to it and had been trying to make up for it.” Engie stated angrily. He was tired of Scout constantly badgering her while she wasn’t even there to defend herself. 

“Oh yeah, I’m sure she’s doing a lot to make up for what she did by being cooped up in her room crying like a baby all the time.” Scout argued, annoyed. Engie glared at the Bostonian. 

“Now see, that just shows how much you don’t know, son. Pyro has been helping me take care of Heavy in the infirmary for the last 3 days. She’s also been helping me work on a project. So, you had better just sit down and hush.” Engie retorted with venom in his words. What he had said did spark some interest in Soldier, however. 

“What kind of project, Engie?” The veteran asked. This caused the smaller man to smile as he turned to Soldier. 

“Oh, you’ll see. Which reminds me, I’ll be right back.” The mechanic stated proudly. He then glared at Scout again before leaving the dining room to go wherever it was that he needed to go. 

Soldier watched as Scout sat down in his seat, mumbling something about the Engineer as he did so. He also glanced at Sniper and Demo. The two seemed to be giving Scout the side-eye. This whole incident has been tearing the team apart. Everyone’s tensions were high and Soldier knew that it wasn’t good for moral. If he didn’t fix this before the cease-fire ended, there was going to be trouble on the field. 

Soldier moved his attention back to Spy. The Frenchman was fuming. If Spy didn’t already hate Scout, he definitely wasn’t a fan of him now. Soldier needed something to get the boys back in high spirits.   
“Hey guys! Looks like I’m eating dinner with you tonight!” Miss Pauling’s cheerful voice rang across the dining room and suddenly Scout wasn’t sulking anymore. 

“Miss Pauling! So, it’s true, you’re going to be staying with us?” Scout beamed. The other men in the room collectively rolled their eyes at the boy. Miss Pauling only chuckled. 

“Yes Scout. Until Pyro is back in the game, I’m stay here. Administrator wanted me to eat dinner with you guys tonight. Some kind of bonding thing I guess.” Pauling stated. Sniper stood and tipped his hat to the woman. 

“Welcome Miss.” The Australian said, about as polite as you were going to get with him. “I was just about to bring dinner out.” He added, leaving the room. 

Miss. Pauling took her seat at the table and began talking with the men who were there. It wasn’t long until the tense room fell into laughter and conversation. Soldier, however, remained silent for the most part. He only added to the conversation when he needed to. 

*_*_*_*_*_*

It wasn’t a far walk from the infirmary to the dining room, but it felt like we’d been walking for hours. By the time we’d reached the dining room and could hear the guys laughing and carrying on, it was hard for me to breathe. We had passed Engie on the way there. He’d stopped us long enough to ask Heavy how he was doing before continuing to the infirmary. 

Heavy gave my arm a small squeeze for comfort before walking in. When we did walk in, the room went silent. Heavy immediately walked me over to the first two chairs that were open next to each other and sat down, pulling me into the seat next to him as he did. All eyes were on us and I felt sick to my stomach. It was Scout’s gaze that I felt the most though, Soldier’s too, but his wasn’t as intense surprisingly. 

“Aaaye! ‘Ow’er yah feelin’ yah chubbeh bastard?” Demo called out excitedly, but clearly having had a bottle or 3 of his whiskey already. Heavy smiled at the Scot. 

“Am feeling good! Strong! Ready to fight blu babies with bare hand!” Heavy shouted cheerfully, getting a laugh from all the men in the room. I watched as Medic sat across from me, I was glad he was here. Out of everyone, he and Spy were my rocks and I couldn’t be more thankful for all they had done for me this last week. I only wish Engi were here too. 

“Glad to ‘ear yer in high spirits, mate!” Demo cheered, raising his bottle in a mock toast before taking a large swig from it. 

“Oi, did I ‘ear a Heavy?” Sniper asked as he entered the room with the food. 

“Sniper!” Heavy shouted happily. 

 

“Glad to have ya back mate!” Sniper chuckled sitting the food down on the table. “Got some Australian Barie for ya!” 

Sniper wasn’t lying either he had brought out a whole plate of barbecue lamb burgers and sausages. He must’ve had more though because Sniper never had a meal without some sides. 

“Smells good! I can’t wait for Sandvich!” Heavy beamed looking at the food. His mouth was actually drooling. The poor guy must not have had a good meal while he was in the infirmary. 

“And Oi’ve got more, be right back!” Sniper said proudly. I smiled a bit, Sniper seemed proud of his cooking and for some reason that made me happy. I didn’t really know a lot about the guy, so knowing that he took some pride in his cooking just gave me a little bit more insight into his life. 

“Do you need some help?” I asked Sniper as he started to leave. 

“Yea! That’d be good.” Sniper said, motioning for me to come with him. I quickly got up and followed him to the kitchen. 

*_*_*_*_*_*

“Need a break from Scout and Soldier already, eh?” Sniper asked once we’d entered the kitchen and were safely away from the rest. 

“Was it that noticeable?” I asked with a nervous chuckle. Sniper chuckled along with me. 

“Nah, Oi just notice these things.” Sniper responded. “You alright?” 

“I don’t know. I can’t get it out of my head that everyone hates me. Which, I don’t blame them if they are, I would be. I am. I just want to go back to my room.” I sighed, my words even sounded tired. Sniper shook his head as he handed me 3 bags of Hamburger buns and a plate with cut up lettuce, tomatoes, onions, pickles, and a big ketchup bottle. He picked up a big plate of grilled shrimp and some weird brown cubes that I’d never seen before. 

“Nah. No one hates ya. Don’t give Soldier and Scoot the pleasure of you leaving either. That’s just what they want ya to do.” Sniper said sternly. “We’re just happy to see ya both here.” 

“Promise?” I asked, though I quickly hated myself for it because I sounded like a complete child. 

“Promise.” Sniper offered with a wink. “C’mon, let’s get the big man his food.” 

“Thanks Sniper.” I said, smiling softly. It was the first one on one conversation that I had had with him and it was nice. I wish I had had spoken to or hung out with him sooner. Sniper seemed like a good guy, he just liked his own space. 

“Anytime.” The Australian responded as he began walking back to the dining room. 

*_*_*_*_*_*

The room had filled with laughter again, which Soldier appreciated, but he really enjoyed Heavy’s excitement when Sniper and Pyro returned with the rest of the food. It was nice to have the team back together. Even know they were an arm short. 

“Wow! This looks great Sniper!” Pauling complimented as the bushman put down the rest of the food. Soldier caught Pyro’s surprise at Pauling’s voice. Perhaps she wasn’t expecting Pauling to be here so soon. 

“Thanks! It’s all Mum’s recipes!” Sniper stated proudly, taking his seat. 

“Sorry I’m late ya’ll! I had to go pick something up!” Engie’s voice rang across the dining room. Soldier’s attention immediately went to the large thing that he was holding. It was wrapped in a blue tarp, so he could see what it was, but knowing Engie, it was good. 

“Can I have your attention!” Engie shouted again and the room went silent. Soldier in particular was completely concentrated. 

“First of all, Heavy, How’s that arm doin’?” The mechanic asked. Heavy looked at his bandaged arm before returning his attention to Engie. 

“Is less Heavy. Makes running easier!” The Russian joked. This got a chuckle from the room. 

“Well, I hope you don’t mind being a little slower ‘cause Pyro and I made a little something for ya.” Engie beamed, unwrapping what he had. Soldier’s eyes widened as he leaned in to view the object. A new arm. They made him a new arm! Soldier couldn’t believe it, he thought for sure he was going to have to teach Heavy how to use a whole new weapon just to stay in the game, but now, he might not have to. 

“NEW ARM!” Heavy shouted excitedly, jumping up and running to Engie. Soldier chuckled at the man’s child-like excitement. He reminded the veteran of a kid on Christmas morning. 

“Yep! It’ll work just like your old one, but it’ll be stronger!” Engie declared, just as excited as the Russian was. 

“I like strong! I like arm! When can we put on?” Heavy asked excitedly. Engie beamed at him. 

“Right now! I’ve already made the attachment piece on your arm! I’ve just been hidin’ it from ya!” Engie explained, pointing to the bandages on Heavy’s bad arm. Heavy’s smile grew larger, if that was possible as he began ripping the bandages off to reveal the attachment. He big man started shaking with joy. Soldier glanced over at Pyro. She was smiling, but he could still see some kind of sadness in her eyes. 

“Wanna put’er on?” Engie asked, holding up the arm. Heavy shook his head quickly, too excited to speak it seems. 

“Pyro, Come help me, would’ya?” Engie asked the girl. She quickly got up and held the arm up as Engie connected a few wires and pushed the arm into place. There was a significant pop as the arm locked into place, but once it was on a tiny orange light on the side by the elbow lit up. Engie and Pyro slowly let go of the arm and backed away, giving Heavy the room to move it as he pleased. 

Heavy stared at it for a minute, but finally he tried clenching his fist. He only managed to move the fingers a bit. Soldier frowned. It seemed like it would be nothing more than a prosthetic. Heavy’s smile faltered, but Pyro jumped in. 

“Try again Heavy.” She pressed. Engie nodded in agreement. 

“It’ll take a minute for the nerve connections to fully connect. Keep tryin’” The small man pushed. Soldier watched along with everyone else in the room. Heavy refocused on his hand and waited a few seconds before trying again. The fingers moved further this time, but not completely. 

“One more time, It’s gonna work!” Pyro encouraged. Her voice was hopeful. Soldier could tell that she wanted this to work just as much as they all did, if not more. Heavy looked at the girl for a moment, but against refocused on his hand and tried again. 

The hand made a fist.

“YES! IS GOOD ARM!” Heavy cheered as he started to move the arm more, waving and wiggling the fingers. Then he held up the arm for a high five from Engineer. Engie wasted no time returning it. Heavy chuckled and moved the hand towards Pyro, wanting a high-five from her as well. She hesitated but did give him a high-five, though it was a timid one. Heavy then let out a huge laugh and scooped the girl up into tight embrace. 

“Heavy! Please! Too tight! Arm!” She squeaked out. This got a few laughs from the team, but not Scout or Pauling, Soldier noted. Heavy let up a bit and let her go. 

“Sorry, Don’t know arm’s strength yet.” Heavy laughed. 

“It’s alright.” The girl smiled, patting his new arm. “I’m glad you like it, though Engie did most of the work.” 

“Naw. Without her talent for weldin’ it wouldn’t have looked nearly as nice.” Engie pushed. 

“Thank you both! Now we eat!” Heavy exclaimed. To which everyone agreed, starting to fill their plates as the 3 sat back down. Pyro seemed more relaxed. Knowing that she helped with the arm made Soldier happy. She’d be going through training like never before, because he was still mad, but happy that she had found some way to help, not only Heavy, but herself. 

“The Administrator is going to love this! I can’t wait to tell her! Think you can be back on the field tomorrow, Heavy?” Pauling asked. Heavy was about to answer, but Soldier cut him off. 

“Negative. He will spend the next 2 days training with me. I want to test that arm and help him get used to it before he gets put out on the field.” Soldier stated, his words firm. Pauling seemed shocked as his response, but slowly nodded. 

“Right, that’s the most logical thing to do. I’ll let her know.” Pauling said quietly, pulling out her notebook. She made a quick note and put it away. Soldier turned his attention to Engie. 

“So, does the arm have a name, Engie?” Soldier asked. Engie lit up at the question. 

“The Purity Fist.” 

*_*_*_*_*_*

Dinner had been going well so far. After Engie showed Heavy the arm, the room really lit up. I could still feel Scouts glare on me, but otherwise, it was nice. Spy had checked in with me, for which I was thankful, and even offered to kill Scout if I wanted. Of course, I declined, but it was nice. 

This dinner was nice. Nothing like what I thought it would be. At least not yet.

“So, Miss. Pauling, are ya ready for your first mission?” Engie asked. Pauling gave a confident smile. 

“Yes! As ready as I’ll ever be anyway. It’s been a while since I’ve worn that suit or used a flamethrower, but I’ve been messing around with it and I think I’ll really get back into it once I’m on the field!” Miss Pauling stated proudly. 

“I still can’t believe you’re gonna be on the field with us!” Scout exclaimed. I let out a sigh of relief at that, it was nice to know it wasn’t just me. 

“You bet!” Miss. Pauling grinned. 

“I’ve literally dreamed of this moment. You have no idea. The chance to get to see you in action? I can’t wait!” Scout said excitedly. Wait… what? He’s okay with Pauling being on the field? Are you kidding me? 

The room grew silent. 

“Let me get this straight String bean, you’re okay with Miss. Pauling being on the field, but not Pyro?” Engie asked. I gave the small man a pointed look. I didn’t want to get into this right now. Scout turned to the shorter man. 

“Of course, I’m not. I don’t want her getting hurt, but she’s been in the field before. She knows what she’s doing.” Scout argued. Engie along with several others shook their head. 

“Besides,” Scout started. Then he turned his attention to me with a glare. “She hasn’t let anyone down or go absolutely insane and cut off a teammate’s arm.” 

I felt ten times smaller than I ever had in my life. He was right though. Medic Jumped up and grabbed Scout by his collar. He slammed him against the wall and was about to punch the boy. 

“Medic, stop.” I ordered, standing up. His arm froze and Scout relaxed his face now that he wasn’t getting punched. 

“What are you? Her lap dog? You do everything she says?” Scout teased and at that Medic punched the boy anyway. After leaving what’s sure to be a black eye, Medic dropped the Bostonian and turned back to the table. 

I frowned at him and got up from my seat. Without another word I left the dining room and went to the kitchen. I took a couple bottles of whiskey from the fridge and made my way to the backyard. I just needed to get away from it all.

*_*_*_*_*_* 

I popped the cap off the first bottle using the edge of the back porch and took a long swig of the bottle. When I finally pulled the bottle from my lips, I looked out at the obstacle course. Under the moonlight, it didn’t look that intimidating. It looked peaceful even. It was kind of nice. This hot desert air however, was not, but in that moment, it didn’t matter. 

I took another gulp of the whiskey, it stung as it went down my throat, but I didn’t care. I just wanted the nice fuzzy feeling that it would bring once I had enough of it. 

“Watch how fast you drink that, Soldier. I don’t need you passing out on me.” I jumped at the voice, mostly because I wasn’t expecting him of all people to come out here. 

“I’ll be fine. What do you want, Soldier?” I asked, more curious. Why would he even bother coming out here? Was he about to put me to work now that he knows I’m up and moving again?

Soldier set a couple of bottles down on the porch before sitting next to me. He cracked open one of the bottles before speaking again. 

“Heavy’s arm. It looked real good. You and Engie did a fine job.” Soldier said. It seemed genuine enough, but I was still hesitant to relax. This was very out of character for him. 

“Thanks... I just did what Engie told me too.” I responded, taking a sip of my whiskey after. 

“But you helped, and you didn’t have to.” Soldier noted. Silence. I really didn’t know what was going on here. I took enough sip of my drink, Soldier followed suit. 

“Ignore Scout. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.” Soldier said after several minutes of silence. Okay now I’m really confused. 

“You’re not going soft on me because you know I’m not a man now, right? Cause I don’t need you to go easy on me.” I stated. This alcohol must be boosting my confidence or something. Soldier chuckled.

“Nah. Now that I knew you can handle what I would throw at a man, you’re not getting any special treatment from me.” Soldier replied, a grin painting his face.

“Then what is this, Soldier? Cause honestly, I was expecting you to yell, holler, and scream at me. Not comfort me.” I asked, frustrated. What he was doing didn’t make sense to me. Soldier was silent for a few minutes. 

“Do you want to me to yell?” he finally asked before taking another sip of his drink. 

“Well… No.” 

“Didn’t think so.” 

“But aren’t you mad?” 

“Yes. Very, but even I know when someone needs a break from anger.” Soldier sighed. “So don’t expect the same treatment tomorrow.” 

That’s it. That’s the Soldier I know. 

“Well… Thank you then. I guess.” I said and then I took another big swig of my whiskey, finishing it off. I set the empty bottle aside for now. 

“Why didn’t you tell me? About you being a girl?” Soldier asked. I looked up at the sky, and let the question hang in the air for a few moments before responding. 

“Medic or Spy told you my story, right?” I asked. 

“Yes.” 

“Then you know that I went into the military. I made and worked on Pyrotechnics for them. Sometimes I even got to go into the field and use them with the Soldiers. By that I mean, they forced me to go into the field. Back then, none of them knew about my condition. They thought I only went insane from bringing up the incident with my family, not from the noise. In fact, I’m pretty sure they still don’t know.” I began explaining. I paused to crack open my other bottle of whiskey and take a sip. 

“They used me to scatter the enemy when they got to comfy in one place. The noise from the battlefield, I’d be out there for so long that it would eventually set me off. They thought it was because they had the Soldiers bring up my past when they saw me out there. Shocker, they were wrong. Anyway,” I took another sip. “The Soldiers used to bully me all the time for being on the field. They hated it. A lot like Scout. Then one would get to close when I was in a frenzy and… well, they’d end up like Heavy. Or worse.” 

I sighed and took a larger swig of my drink. My cheeks were starting to warm up, good it was finally starting to hit me. 

“I didn’t tell any of you when I got here because I guess I didn’t want to be bullied, or yelled at, or kicked out just because my teammates didn’t want a woman on their team. I was especially scared of you finding out because you were in the military. I figured you’d be the most like them.” I finished. I sighed and took another sip of the drink. Soldier stared at me for a moment before taking a couple of sips from his drink. 

“They weren’t very good Soldiers then. A good Soldier knows that it doesn’t matter who’s on your side. As long as they’re good at what they do and from what I’ve seen, you’re very good at your job.” The older man stated. I listened, but I didn’t look at him, I kept my attention on the sky. 

“Yeah. I’m also pretty good at messing things up.” I sighed. 

“But that can be fixed. I’ll train you to use that frenzy of yours better. Heavy was the last teammate you’ll hurt like that. I promise.” Soldier declared. 

“You can really help me with that?” My words had been covered in genuine hope for the first time in a while. 

“Yes. Step 1, stop thinking of it as a problem, think of it as an unfortunate gift.” Soldier grinned. I scoffed. 

“Yeah that sounds about right.” We both took another sip of our drinks. 

“Just trust me. You’re not the first Soldier with PTSD I’ve had to train.” Soldier said, his words comforting this time. It was an odd tone for him. 

“No?” 

“Nah. Everyone deals with it differently. We just need to help you use it to your advantage. Your weakness will become your strength. You’ll see.” Soldier stated proudly. I didn’t know who this Soldier was, but I liked him a lot better than I liked the normal Soldier. We sat in silence for a while after that, just sitting and drinking. 

“I uh… am sorry about your family by the way.” Soldier said somewhat nervously, breaking the silence. “I know what it’s like to lose someone.” 

This caused me to look at him. He must’ve been feeling the alcohol, I don’t think sober Soldier would be telling me things like this. 

“Parents? Siblings?” I asked. He shook his head and reached into his jacket from the collar. 

“Wife.” He said as he pulled out a folded-up piece of paper and handed it to me. After looking at him to be sure it was okay to read it, I unfolded the paper. It was a letter, definitely a woman’s handwriting. After adjusting the paper to the moonlight, I began reading. 

My Dear Johnny,   
I’m sorry that this is how you had to find out, but I couldn’t wait any longer. I’m leaving you. By the time you get back, or long after, I will have moved out. I can’t be in a one-sided relationship anymore. You love this war more than you love me and I’m tired of getting my hopes up every time you’re supposed to come home just to hear that you extended your time by another 3 months. I can’t live in this house that we’d bought for the both of us when it’s only me. I’m tired of missing you. I have a life that I want to live, John. I need to live it, and unfortunately, that means I have to leave you to do so. I’m so sorry. I really am. I love you, but I have to think about me and my happiness. I’m sorry John.   
Goodbye,  
Gabriella Doe   
I stared at the letter for a while after I had read it. I didn’t know how to respond. 

“I kept extending my time in the war so that I could afford to stay out. So that we could start a family. I was a week from returning home to her when I got that letter. I didn’t tell her because I wanted to surprise her.” Soldier said, sadness laced into his words. 

“Sure enough, when I got home, she was gone and I couldn’t contact her. Her parents wouldn’t tell me anything and told me that if I didn’t stop showing up on their doorstep, they would have a restraining order put on me. The only time I was allowed back was to sign the divorce papers.” Soldier stared at the ground. His voice had become so distant while he was speaking. It was heart breaking. Refolded the letter and handed it back to him. He took it, quickly tucking it back into his jacket. 

“I’m sorry Soldier. I can only imagine how that feels.” I offered. So, the big bad tough guys does have a soft side. I watched him as he chugged the rest of his bottle. 

“It’s in the past. Now it’s just a reminder to me to enjoy what I have before it’s gone.” Soldier sighed. I gave Soldier a small smile. I enjoyed this time with him. I feel like I met a completely different person tonight. I offered Soldier my right hand. He looked at it, confused. 

“My Name’s Emily by the way. I feel it’s only right that you know my name now what I know yours, John. Nice to meet you.” I said softly with a smile. Soldier gave me a small chuckle before returning the handshake. 

“Nice to meet you, Emily.” 

He and I sat there a while longer, just talking about our experiences in the military after that. Turns out he and I were on the same battleground once, we just missed each other. Turns out Soldier’s not so bad a guy. He’s only a bad guy to hide everything else about his past. 

When the moon was high in the sky and the alcohol had successfully calmed me into a giggly drunken state, I decided it was time for bed. 

“I think I’m gonna head in for the night.” I announced, standing up and sloppily tossing my empty bottle into the bin by the door. Soldier stood up too, tossing his own bottle into the bin.   
“Sounds good, Soldier.” The veteran agreed. “Think I’ll head in myself.” 

“Thanks for the conversation, Soldier.” I smiled. 

“Of course, but none of this leaves this porch. Understood?” Soldier ordered. I mock saluted him, giggling a bit. 

“Sir, yes sir!” 

“Get some sleep, private. You and I have a date on the track tomorrow for training. Don’t expect Mr. Nice Guy either.” Soldier said, his normal Soldier yell returning to his voice. 

“Yes Sir!” I smiled. I leaned on the door frame for a moment, barely holding myself up. “Goodnight Soldier.” I said softly. Then I pushed open the door and went inside. 

“Goodnight Pyro.”


End file.
